Proposed direct air capture plant in Penwell would create 125 jobs

• To locate on a portion of the Shoe Bar Ranch near Penwell
• Plant captures CO2 directly from the air and stores it for other uses

1PointFive plans to construct a direct air capture (DAR) plant at one of four locations, two of which are in the Permian Basin (Penwell and New Mexico), that would create 125 new jobs with an annual payroll of $7.9 million, according to the City of Odessa.

The city is recommending that its council approve a $2.4 million economic development grant over 5 years with 1PointFive to locate the plant on a portion of the Shoe Bar Ranch near Penwell. A DAC plant involves capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air and storing it for other uses.

1PointFive is a joint venture consisting of Occidental Petroleum, its subsidiary Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and private equity firm Rusheen Capital Management to finance and deploy large scale DAC technology licensed from Carbon Engineering.

“The high-quality CO2 product manufactured by the DAC facility would be used as industrial gas feedstock by Oxy in their traditional energy production process, specifically through downhole injection at their existing EOR sites, to permanently sequester high volumes of carbon dioxide in underground geological storage,” according to project plans.

The prospective development area consists of about 100 acres. The DAC plant’s capital expenditure is estimated to cost about $810,000. Construction could launch later this year and be completed in 2024, city documents state.

“The Project and its DAC technology deployment are expected to fundamentally alter the energy landscape by providing a pathway to decarbonize major carbon-emitting industries like fuel production, transportation, and construction,” project plans state.

Photo credit (Cropped from original image): Nicolas Henderson | Flickr