Texas Welcomes Deal for Green Hydrogen Production Venture
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared that a newly announced $4 billion green hydrogen production facility for mobility and other industrial markets will help the state retain its national leadership role in energy.
The joint venture between Air Products and The AES Corp. is to build, own and operate a renewable power hydrogen facility in Wilbarger County with a daily electrolyzer output of 200 metric tons of green hydrogen.
The venture, to be located near the base of the Texas panhandle, is expected to create 1,300 construction jobs, 115 permanent operations jobs and 200 transportation and distribution jobs.
Abbott
“This project will not only bring hundreds of jobs and millions in revenue to the Lone Star State, but will also expand our state’s robust energy sector and further solidify Texas as a global powerhouse in this critical industry,” Abbott said. “I thank Air Products and AES for choosing Texas, and I look forward to working alongside the two companies and local leaders as we keep Texas a global energy leader.”
The U.S. Department of Energy is advocating the use of hydrogen to achieve carbon-free emissions in the transportation sector. Among the ways to produce hydrogen is in an electrolyzer, which uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Air Products and @TheAESCorp plan to invest ~$4 billion to build, own and operate a #greenhydrogen production facility in Texas. This mega-scale renewable power to #hydrogen project will be the largest green hydrogen facility in the U.S. Learn more: https://t.co/BHVSt3jMCY pic.twitter.com/bBVXDLcMnr — Air Products (@airproducts) December 8, 2022
The operation would be the largest green hydrogen facility in the United States, utilizing 1.4 gigawatts wind and solar power generation. Commercial operations would start in 2027.
Under the deal, announced Dec. 8, Air Products and AES will equally own the renewable energy and electrolyzer assets, while Air Products will be the exclusive off-taker and marketer of the green hydrogen under a 30-year contract.
The largest green hydrogen facility in the nation is coming to Texas!@Airproducts & @TheAESCorp's new facility will bring hundreds of good-paying #jobs & millions of dollars into Texas, keeping our state a global energy leader.https://t.co/UK5QK3us3q — Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) December 8, 2022
According to Air Products, “If all the green hydrogen were used in the heavy-duty truck market, it would eliminate more than 1.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually when compared to diesel use in heavy-duty trucks. Over the project lifetime, it is expected to avoid more than 50 million metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of avoiding emissions from nearly 5 billion gallons of diesel fuel.”
Seifi Ghasemi, Air Products’ chair, president and CEO, said the Texas facility will be “the largest megascale clean hydrogen production facility in the U.S. to use wind and sun as energy sources.”
#ICYMI: AES IS GREEN-er than ever! Introducing our 1st $4 billion green hydrogen production facility in Texas together with @airproducts! Together, we're leading the change in #cleanenergy.
Learn more here: https://t.co/qcnuHGKxUR #greenhydrogen pic.twitter.com/CU7osS8A0z — The AES Corporation (@TheAESCorp) December 8, 2022
AES President and CEO Andres Gluski said, “This project will capitalize on AES’ position as one of the nation’s largest renewable energy developers and its global leadership in innovations such as energy storage systems and supplying around-the-clock clean energy to data centers. We are very pleased to partner with the world leader in hydrogen, Air Products, for this first-of-its-kind megascale green hydrogen facility in the United States.”
Rick Hardcastle, member of the Business Development Corp. of Vernon, said, “We welcome this project and the significant new jobs to be created during construction and beyond. With this project, we’re entering an exciting next chapter.”
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