(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 2. TotalEnergies, Tree Energy Solutions (TES), Osaka Gas, Toho Gas and ITOCHU have signed a Joint Development and Operating Agreement granting the three Japanese companies a combined 33.3% stake in the Live Oak project - a large-scale electric natural gas (e-NG, or e-methane) production facility under development in Nebraska, USA, Trend reports via the ITOCHU company.

Following the deal, TotalEnergies and TES will each retain a 33.35% share in the project.

The partners are now preparing to launch the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase. The project aims to develop approximately 250 MW of electrolysis capacity and 75 ktpa of methanation. Subject to a Final Investment Decision expected in 2027, commercial operations are targeted to begin by 2030, with plans to export e-NG to Japan. Osaka Gas and Toho Gas will serve as the primary offtakers. The initiative is set to support Japanese gas utilities in meeting their goal of injecting 1% carbon-neutral gas-including e-NG-into the national grid by 2030.

The agreement builds upon the strategic partnership formed in 2023 between TotalEnergies and TES to scale up industrial production of e-NG. The Live Oak project will rely on Nebraska's significant biogenic CO2 resources, captured from bioethanol plants, as well as growing renewable power generation capacity in the United States.

Electric natural gas (e-NG) is a synthetic gas produced from renewable hydrogen and CO2. Chemically identical to traditional natural gas, it can be transported, stored and used within existing LNG infrastructure without any modifications to consumer equipment.

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