JERA Partners With Newlab New Orleans to Advance Low-Concentration CO₂ Capture Technologies for Power Generation2025/12/03
JERA Co., Inc., through its venture capital arm JERA Ventures, has entered a partnership with Newlab New Orleans, a purpose-built startup platform focused on the critical technologies for energy and industry of the Gulf South. The collaboration aims to accelerate next-generation carbon capture technologies designed for low-concentration CO₂ emissions, such as those coming from gas-fired power plants.
Newlab is a global venture platform supporting the development of transformative technologies through infrastructure and strategic partnerships. Newlab New Orleans, the organization’s public-private innovation hub in Louisiana, collaborates with regional stakeholders across the public sector, academia, and energy industry and provides a unique environment to test and deploy early-stage technologies into industrial settings and accelerate commercialization pathways.
While Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) development has accelerated globally, capturing CO₂ from lower-concentration sources remains a complex technical challenge. Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT), vital for reliable power generation, produce low CO₂ concentration emissions that render conventional capture methods costly and inefficient. Advancing early-stage Point-Source Capture (PSC) technologies is therefore essential to unlocking scalable solutions for next-generation power systems. To bridge this gap, JERA and Newlab New Orleans have launched a structured program to evaluate, test, and advance emerging startups under conditions representative of real industrial emissions.
Under the partnership, JERA and Newlab New Orleans will evaluate and select a group of promising PSC startups and, within 2026, identify one technology for deeper development and potential commercialization. The partners will conduct proof-of-concept testing under representative conditions, advance leading candidates into pilot-project planning, and pursue the engineering and partnership work required to prepare for potential deployment at gas-fired power plants.
“JERA Ventures was created to identify, test, and scale breakthrough technologies that can transform the future of global energy systems,” said Takeshi Kodama, Head of JERA Ventures. “Through our partnership with Newlab New Orleans, we can validate promising solutions in industrial environments, paving the way for pilot projects and the eventual deployment of commercial-scale technologies capable of supporting power systems across our global markets.”
“Louisiana sits at the center of one of the world’s most energy-intensive industrial corridors, and the solutions we validate here have global relevance,” said Sahil Jain, VP of Strategy at Newlab. “Through our partnership with JERA, we are creating a platform to directly evaluate next-generation carbon capture technologies on real-world flue gas profiles. Our goal is to de-risk technologies that meet the power sector’s most urgent decarbonization needs and move faster toward first-of-a-kind deployment.”
This partnership builds on JERA’s continued engagement in Louisiana’s dynamic energy economy, including its development of the world’s largest low-carbon ammonia facility, its ownership stake in the state’s largest solar installation, the 300-megawatt Oxbow Solar Farm; investment in upstream shale gas assets in the Haynesville basin; and long-term LNG offtake. Together, these initiatives reflect JERA’s mission to provide cutting-edge solutions to the world’s energy issues.
About JERA
JERA is a global energy leader and Japan’s largest power generation company focused on providing cutting-edge solutions to the world's energy issues. Established in 2015, the Company produces one-third of Japan’s electricity, and is one of the largest LNG buyers in the world. JERA has global reach and strength throughout the energy supply chain, including participation in upstream gas exploration and production, LNG projects, fuel procurement and transportation, and power generation globally. In support of a responsible energy transition, JERA has committed to achieving net-zero CO₂ emissions from its domestic and overseas businesses by 2050.
About JERA Ventures
JERA Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of JERA, making strategic investment totally $300 million in startups and venture capital funds around the world. The initiative backs companies developing breakthrough technologies and business models, serving as a strategic partner to help scale solutions that can transform the energy sector. Acting as a bridge between entrepreneurs and JERA’s global network, JERA Ventures provides resources and expertise to accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy future.