Projeo Corporation Awarded $38M from U.S. Department of Energy for CarbonSAFE Carbon Storage Demonstration

November 20, 2023
Des Plaines, IL

Today Projeo Corporation, a subsidiary of GTI International, announced it has been awarded over $38 million in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding to support the development of new carbon storage demonstrations. Projeo’s selected project, The Phoenix Project, intends to demonstrate the feasibility of safely converting a mature oil and gas field in the Permian Basin into a dedicated CO₂ storage facility.

Projeo’s Phoenix Project will support the Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative, managed by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM). The Phoenix Project is one of seven recipients selected for CarbonSAFE Phase III: Site Characterization and Permitting. CarbonSAFE Phase III recipients have completed studies of subsurface conditions and will now focus on conducting detailed site characterization, planning, and permitting stages of project development.

“We are honored that the U.S. Department of Energy has selected Projeo for funding to help expand the United States’ carbon storage infrastructure,” said Nick Malkewicz, President of Projeo. “We continue to look for ways to accelerate the energy transition using subsurface resources responsibly and safely. We believe existing upstream infrastructure and expertise have a critical role to play in this journey as we all work together towards a low-cost, low-carbon, energy secure future. Our Phoenix Project in the Permian Basin is an important step to delivering on this mission.”

The project will focus on detailed site characterization and risk mitigation, which will help to determine the capacity and injectivity of the storage complex. Information gathered from the characterization efforts will be used to complete a storage field development plan and to apply for one or more UIC Class VI well permits.

Projeo will also undertake a risk assessment and mitigation plan to determine reliable and cost-effective ways to evaluate legacy wellbore conditions and risks and mitigation measures. As a part of this project, Projeo will perform a CO₂ front-end engineering and design study and a CO₂ source feasibility study for CO₂ supply sources and transportation options.

The project will also develop and deploy a community, labor, and stakeholder engagement plan, which will include a full Justice40 plan and activities. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), under the purview of FECM, will manage the project.