Chris Wright, U.S. energy secretary, said last week the U.S. Department of Energy is cancelling 24 awards issued by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations totaling more than $3.7 billion in taxpayer-funded financial assistance.  Sixteen of the 24 awards were signed between election day Nov. 5, 2024, and inauguration day, Jan. 20, 2025.  The awards, including four in Texas, primarily included funding for carbon capture and sequestration and decarbonization initiatives.

The official announcement May 30 said, “After a thorough and financial review of each award, DOE found that these projects failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable, and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.”  Wright added, “The Trump administration is doing our due diligence to ensure we are utilizing taxpayer dollars to strengthen our national security, bolster affordable, reliable energy sources, and advance projects that generate the highest possible return on investment.”

The awards in Texas that were canceled include a clean hydrogen complex ($331 million) and Calpine’s carbon storage project ($270 million) at ExxonMobil’s plant in Baytown, a clean methanol project ($99 million) by Orsted in Chambers County east of Houston, and Eastman Chemical’s plastic recycling project ($375 million) in Longview.

The post DOE cancels 24 financial awards for clean energy projects, including 4 in Texas appeared first on Permian Basin Oil and Gas Magazine.