Distributed Generation, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  June 9, 2022

DOE Closes Loan for Hydrogen Production and Storage

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office makes its first loan in 10 years to the development of the world’s largest green hydrogen hub in Utah.

Mitsubishi Power Americas and Magnum Development announced the closing of a $504.4 million loan guarantee from the DOE’s Loan Programs Office to Advanced Clean Energy Storage I, LLC to develop an industrial green hydrogen facility in central Utah. 

In April 2022, DOE’s Loan Programs Office issued a conditional commitment for ACES I. The loan closed on June 3, 2022, highlighting the administration and the Energy Department’s commitment to supporting the clean hydrogen sector. 

“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, in a statement. “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 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 produce up to 100 metric tons 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.

Share this valuable information with your colleagues using the buttons below: