Mitsubishi Heavy, Chevron Eye U.S. green hydrogen Launch in 2025
An innovative approach to hydrogen production will be taken by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Chevron. The companies have formed ACES Delta, a joint venture, which will operate in the state of Utah. This project is projected to become the first of its kind in the world.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Chevron are preparing to make hydrogen in the U.S. using renewable energy, with commercial power generation using the fuel scheduled to start in mid-2025.
ACES Delta, a joint venture involving the two companies, will produce and store the gas at facilities in the state of Utah. Chevron is the largest shareholder, with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and a major Canadian pension fund among the other investors.
ACES will support Intermountain Power Agency (IPA), a local electricity provider, which will source excess solar and wind power from elsewhere in the country and supply it to ACES. Using this excess power to produce hydrogen from water, ACES will be able to make 100 tonnes of the fuel per day, and will receive processing and storage fees from IPA.
The hydrogen will be stored in salt dome caverns, a type of underground formation that is also used to store natural gas and oil due to its resistance to gas and liquid leakage. IPA will extract hydrogen as needed to be burned along with natural gas in power plants.
The power company plans to retire its existing coal plants and build an 840-megawatt gas-fired facility scheduled to enter commercial operation next year. The new plant will initially run on a blend of 70% natural gas and 30% hydrogen, with the goal of transitioning fully to hydrogen by 2045.
Ample storage for hydrogen
The salt dome caverns can hold enough hydrogen to generate 300 gigawatt-hours of electricity, enough to meet the annual energy needs of 28,000 U.S. households. It is expected to be the world’s largest green hydrogen storage site.
The site as a whole, if successful, would also be the world’s first large-scale green hydrogen production, storage and power generation project. Total costs are expected to run into the billions of dollars.
Michael Ducker, president of U.S.-based MHI Hydrogen Infrastructure, said the company is “looking at commissioning beginning later this year.”
Preparations are well on the way
Mitsubishi Heavy has developed and produced a gas turbine for the power plant, and will handle maintenance and inspection for 20 years. The electrolyzer equipment to be used to make the hydrogen was manufactured by a Norwegian company in which Mitsubishi Heavy holds a stake.
Mitsubishi Heavy counts natural gas turbines among its strengths. As the U.S. seeks to move away from fossil-fuel-fired power plants to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the company is working to expand its hydrogen power business, where it sees better growth prospects. Mitsubishi Heavy aims to use its involvement in the production side of the Utah project as an opportunity to gain know-how.
The facility can provide an outlet for solar power that would otherwise go to waste. Solar farms in the western U.S. are often shut off when they produce more energy than the grid can handle.
Government support fuels momentum
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has issued a $500 million loan guarantee for the Utah project as part of an effort to make the country a major player in hydrogen.
Asked about potential partners for other hydrogen projects, Ducker said that “a fundamental approach that we’re taking is to engage with the different strategic companies out there in some of these hubs.”
