Commencement of FEED for the Live Oak Project for e-NG Production in Nebraska

The Live Oak consortium today announced the launch of Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) activities for the Live Oak project, a large-scale electric natural gas (e-NG, also known as e-methane) production facility currently under development in Nebraska, United States. The consortium comprises TotalEnergies and TES (each holding a 33.35% stake in Live Oak), alongside Osaka Gas, Toho Gas and ITOCHU (33.3% combined).

The FEED will be conducted by U.S.-based KBR and Spain’s Técnicas Reunidas, two leading engineering contractors specializing in energy infrastructure, natural gas, and large-scale industrial projects. Both companies were selected by the consortium through a competitive process and will carry out parallel FEED studies, after which one of the two FEED concepts will be selected for execution.

>> In Other News: Emvolon Locks In $450M+ Buyer and a Capital Partner

The project will continue to advance with the aim of completing FEED and starting execution in 2027, with potential beginning of commercial operations by 2030.

Located in Norfolk, Nebraska, the project is expected to produce e-NG, a synthetic gas made by combining renewable hydrogen produced through electrolysis with CO₂ captured from bioethanol plants through methanation. Once operational, Live Oak aims to supply low-carbon gas to customers in Japan, leveraging existing U.S. natural gas and LNG infrastructure for exports. Osaka Gas and Toho Gas will serve as the project’s primary offtakers. This project will help these Japanese gas utilities achieve their goal of injecting 1% carbon-neutral gas, including e-NG, into the gas grid by 2030.

Chemically identical to conventional natural gas, e-NG can be seamlessly integrated into existing LNG infrastructure – including liquefaction, transportation, regasification, and distribution – and used without any modifications to end-user equipment.

Clare Harris, Chief Executive Officer of TES stated: “Moving Live Oak into FEED is a significant milestone towards delivering e-NG at scale. Together with our partners, we are advancing a project that can support Japan’s decarbonisation goals and demonstrate the role of e-NG in connecting renewable energy to global markets.”

Visit Live Oak website: https://live-oak-eng.com

About TES

TES is a global energy company building the infrastructure bridge between today’s energy system and tomorrow’s zero emissions economy. Sitting at the intersection of renewables, gas and energy infrastructure, TES brings resilient, flexible, low-carbon energy such as e-NG to customers across markets at the pace and scale needed.

Globally, TES uses renewable energy - solar, wind, and hydro, along with climate neutral CO₂ for the production of e-NG (electric natural gas), which can be transported easily through existing gas infrastructure. This gives customers accelerated access to low and zero-carbon energy and feedstock solutions, whilst connecting renewable power and hydrogen to markets without relying on infrastructure that is yet to be built. In this way TES supports energy security and industrial competitiveness whilst helping win the race against climate change.

Large-scale e-NG projects are underway in the US (Live Oak), Canada (Project Mauricie), Finland (Luoto Energia), Sweden (Värö) and across Europe, and the Middle East, to serve customers in North America, Asia and Europe. In Wilhelmshaven, Germany, TES is developing a green energy terminal that will serve as a major hub for sustainable molecules, strengthening energy security while supporting the EU’s decarbonisation efforts.

About Live Oak

Live Oak is one of the most advanced electric natural gas (e-NG) initiatives in the world, launched by TotalEnergies and TES in 2023 to pioneer at scale production of e-NG, a synthetic gas produced from renewable hydrogen and CO₂. Today, the project is being developed by a consortium of leading international energy and industrial companies including TotalEnergies, TES, Osaka Gas, Toho Gas and ITOCHU. The Live Oak project will leverage Nebraska's abundant biogenic CO₂ resources, captured from bioethanol plants, and the growing renewable power generation capacity in the United States. The project targets a capacity of approximately 250 MW of electrolysis and 75 ktpa of methanation, with plans to export e-NG to Japan.