Turn Up the Gas
Danny Rice, the middle brother of the famed Marcellus gas-producing trio, is about to enjoy one exceptional week. On Thursday, Rice will officially close on the combination of his Rice Acquisition Corp II and N.C.-based NET Power, creating a company with an enterprise value of $1.5 billion. On Friday, NET Power will go public on the NYSE and Rice will take his seat as the new CEO.
Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest on the merger that expands the Rice dominion over U.S. natural gas. Older brother Toby heads up EQT, the nation’s largest gas producer. Younger brother Derek runs an energy-focused investment group. Now a whisper away from taking the reigns at NET Power, 39-year-old Danny has big plans in store to decarbonize power generation using a patented oxy-combustion supercritical CO2 power cycle that converts natural gas into zero-emissions power.
NET Power’s 50-MWth test facility at LaPorte, Texas, last November delivered enough clean electricity to the ERCOT grid to power 250,000 homes. With funding in place, the company looks to fast track its first utility-scale plant in West Texas capable of producing 300 MWe and capturing an annual ~860,000 tons of CO2. And that’s just for starters. NET Power’s technology has to date attracted $570 million in combined investments from Occidental, Constellation Energy, 8 Rivers, SK Group, and the Rice family.