(The Center Square) – Newlab New Orleans and Japanese power generation company JERA have announced a new partnership aimed at developing next-generation carbon capture technologies for energy-intensive industries in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast.
JERA Ventures is joining a public-private partnership housed at Newlab’s New Orleans innovation hub, which will provide startups with laboratory space and advanced machinery to turn their ideas into products.
Both said they want to attract and grow companies focused on energy efficiency, carbon management and port infrastructure.
Next fall, New York-based Newlab expects to open its fifth innovation hub at the former Naval Support Activity in a repurposed building located at the intersection of the Intercoastal Industrial Canal and the Mississippi River. Newlab opened innovation hubs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2025 and Detroit in 2023. Newlab hub member companies have raised more than $5.8 billion from Venture Capital firms.
“As global electricity demand surges, the need for firm, low-carbon power has never been more urgent,” according to Newlab’s LinkedIn page. “Carbon capture will play a critical role in meeting that demand while reducing emissions from existing and future gas-fired power assets.”
JERA Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of JERA, has invested $300 million in startups and venture capital funds around the world with a focus on sustainable energy.
The Japanese energy giant’s business interests in Louisiana include a joint venture with CF Industries in the Blue Point Complex, a planned $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant in Ascension Parish, a 50% stake in the 300-megawatt Oxbow Solar Farm in Pointe Coupee Parish and a recent $1.5 billion investment in shale gas assets in the Haynesville basin.