Massive hydrogen facility moves a step closer

What Mitsubishi Power Americas calls the world’s largest industrial green hydrogen facility has moved a step closer to reality.

The company and its partner, Magnum Development, announced the closing of a US$504.4 million loan guarantee from U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office to Advanced Clean Energy Storage I, LLC to develop the hydrogen facility in central Utah. DOE’s loan is its first in more than 10 years for a renewable energy project.

According to Mitsubishi Power Americas, the loan helps generate a viable market for hydrogen and will make it scalable in the western United States and electrical grid, creating the fundamental infrastructure necessary to deploy this zero-carbon energy source.

“The Advanced Clean Energy Storage team, with its world-class industry partners, is excited to secure this loan by DOE to develop the first phase of the world’s largest renewable hydrogen energy hub,” said Michael Ducker, senior vice president of Hydrogen Infrastructure for Mitsubishi Power Americas and president of Advanced Clean Energy Storage I. “This step creates a path to accelerate the long-term hydrogen market and clean energy landscape to expand decarbonization across the United States.”

The Advanced Clean Energy Storage hub will help the clean energy transition by supporting the Intermountain Power Agency’s IPP Renewed Project—upgrading to an 840 MW hydrogen-capable gas turbine combined cycle power plant, the company said. The plant will initially run on a blend of 30% green hydrogen and 70% natural gas starting in 2025 and incrementally expand to 100% green hydrogen by 2045.

The hub will use Utah’s unique geological salt domes to store green hydrogen across two massive salt caverns, each capable of storing 150 gigawatt hours of energy. The long-duration energy storage capability of the salt caverns will help improve resource adequacy and decrease costs by capturing excess renewable power when it is abundant and dispatching it back on the grid when it is needed. (Image: Mitsubishi Americas)

The hub will produce up to 100 metric tonnes per day of green hydrogen from renewable energy using electrolysis. Green hydrogen can then be stored in two massive salt caverns, each capable of storing 150 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy, resulting in the world’s single largest hydrogen storage site and providing capabilities for seasonal shifting of excess renewable energy. The long-duration energy storage capability of the salt caverns will help improve resource adequacy and decrease costs by capturing excess renewable power when it is abundant and dispatching it back on the grid when it is needed.

“This joint venture is historic for Mitsubishi Power Americas and the future of global hydrogen deployment,” said Bill Newsom, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Power Americas. “We’re proud to partner with Magnum Development and provide the hydrogen equipment to further advance carbon-free hydrogen as a cornerstone of our future energy supply and help chart the path towards net zero. This project sets the industry gold standard for hydrogen deployment, helping to combat the impacts of climate change and advance human prosperity.”

The development and operation of the Advanced Clean Energy Storage hub will help spur economic development locally by creating up to 400 local construction jobs throughout the 3-year construction cycle, and it will employ a projected 25 full-time operations and maintenance personnel to provide 24/7 operations and maintenance of the facility. Additionally, property tax revenue collected by Millard County, Utah, will contribute to services that benefit all nearby Utahns, which typically include law enforcement and emergency response, infrastructure, and other services.