TotalEnergies announced it is joining forces with Tree Energy Solutions (TES) to study and develop a large-scale production unit in the United States for e-natural gas (e-NG), a synthetic gas produced from renewable hydrogen and CO(2). The project, which is expected to produce 100,000 to 200,000 metric tons of e-NG per year, will be equally owned by the partners and operated by TotalEnergies. This partnership combines TES' e-NG know-how with TotalEnergies' expertise in renewable power generation, large-scale project management and natural gas liquefaction.

The e-NG will be produced in two steps: to reduce renewable hydrogen, a 1 gigawatt (GW) electrolyzer will powered by approximately 2 GW of wind and solar energy supplied by TotalEnergies through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs). this renewable hydrogen will then be combined with biogenic CO2 to obtain the e-NG. The resulting e-NG produced can be transported and/or liquefied, then sold like natural gas, using existing infrastructure, and end customers will be able to use it without any adaptation to their facilities.

TotalEnergies and TES will carry out the preliminary studies and aim to reach a Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2024. The project is expected to benefit from tax credits under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).