The business combination agreement between NET Power and special purpose acquisition company Rice Acquisition Corp. II is expected to close June 8, with NET Power to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange June 9.
The transaction is expected to raise at least $670 million in gross proceeds, including a minimum of approximately $130 million of cash-in-trust. Upon completion of the merger, NET Power will be valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
Gross proceeds from the transaction will be used to accelerate deployments of NET Power’s novel natural gas-fired power plant technology, which the company says captures over 97% of CO2 generated.
The NET Power capture system utilizes the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, combusting natural gas with oxygen, as opposed to air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid to drive a turbine instead of steam. This theoretically eliminates all air emissions, including traditional pollutants and CO2 and inherently produces pipeline-quality CO2 that can be sequestered underground.
In November 2022 the company announced a plan to develop and build its first utility-scale natural gas-fired plant with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). NET Power has a “backlog of utility-scale power plant projects,” with initial commercialization expected in 2026.
Danny Rice, current director of RAC II will take over the combined company, to be named NET Power Inc., and “lead it through commercialization and beyond.”
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