The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday that a planned 92-gigawatt natural gas power complex near Portsmouth, Ohio, is one of the first projects under a new U.S.-Japan trade and investment framework, with an estimated investment of $33 billion. It will be operated by SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group. This initiative aims to address the load growth driven by power-intensive industries such as data centers and expand baseload power supply.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that the Ohio natural gas power project will enhance energy supply stability amid rapidly rising electricity demand. However, the federal announcement did not provide detailed information on project configuration, fuel supply, interconnection specifics, permitting status, or construction timeline, nor did it disclose how the 92 gigawatts of power will be contracted. This project was announced alongside two smaller projects as part of a strategy to strengthen U.S. industrial and energy security, including a deepwater crude oil export terminal on the Texas coast and a synthetic industrial diamond abrasive facility in Georgia.
Japan will invest $2.1 billion in the Texas GulfLink deepwater crude oil export terminal, developed by Sentinel Midstream. Lutnick noted that at full capacity, the terminal could generate $20 billion to $30 billion in annual revenue for U.S. crude oil exports, but the government did not provide details on the underlying assumptions. The third project is a high-pressure, high-temperature synthetic diamond abrasive plant in Georgia, valued at approximately $600 million, to be operated by Element Six, a subsidiary of De Beers.
According to Reuters, these three projects represent a total investment of about $36 billion and are the first investments under Japan's $550 billion U.S. investment commitment, which is linked to a trade agreement that reduces U.S. tariffs on Japanese imports to 15%. The financing structure has not been fully finalized, and it is currently unclear how much funding Japanese entities will provide and under what specific terms. The funding package is expected to include equity, loans, and guarantees from institutions such as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance. As a key energy cooperation, the Ohio natural gas power project highlights the role of the U.S.-Japan investment framework in promoting infrastructure and industrial development.
