Natural gas processing and transportation company Williams has made an investment in ION Clean Energy, a developer of carbon capture technology focused on the natgas industry.
The amount of the investment has not been disclosed but Williams pointed out that a significant portion of the natural gas plant fleet in the U.S. is in proximity to its service areas and a partnership with ION would enable it to help customers throughout the entire carbon capture, transportation and sequestration chain.
“Our investment in ION aligns with our desire for growth in CCUS efforts, especially when leveraging industry leading technology that provides compelling environmental and economic benefits compared to other solutions on the market,” said Jaclyn Presnal, Vice President of New Energy Ventures for Williams.
“Natural gas is the most powerful tool in decarbonizing the electric power sector and this investment in ION further demonstrates our commitment to fund solutions that support not only our internal sustainability goals but also the goals of our customers,” she added.
Relevant: Supreme Court: EPA Rules For Coal and Natural Gas Emissions Reduction Stand (For Now)
Earlier on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision not to strike down a set of EPA rules that require new natural gas plants to capture 90% of their CO2 emissions by 2035.
Williams recently 12 new projects to its portfolio, seeing increased demand for natural gas power generation.
ION Clean Energy attracting investors
Williams’ investment follows a $45-million funding round led by Chevron that was announced in April 2024. In 2023 carbon infrastructure developer Denbury also became an investor in the company before the former was acquired by ExxonMobil.
Williams invested in ION through its Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) initiative, which focuses on advancing the commercialization of innovative technologies such as clean hydrogen, solar energy, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), as well as NextGen natural gas.
With the aforementioned EPA rules in force (pending more challenges, especially in the scenario of a second Donald Trump presidency), industry players are positioning themselves to align with the broader decarbonization trend and it seems carbon capture is going to be part of that journey.
Read more: EPA Excludes Existing Natural Gas Plants From Draft Carbon Capture Rules
