Producing 132000 kg of Hydrogen per day: Can it be Done?

With an alliance agreement with Bair Energy, ABB will help create one of the most ambitious green hydrogen complexes in Texas, USA. Hydrogen Industry Leaders looks at how much hydrogen the plant will be able to produce.

ABB has been selected to join the Bair Energy Green Hydrogen and Technology Alliance to provide expertise on turnkey automation, electrification and digitalisation solutions that support the optimisation of low-cost green hydrogen production at the 1GW Clear Fork Texas facility.

Phase one will produce 33000, scaling to 1132000 kg per day

Phase one of the project will utilise renewable power to produce up to 33,000 kg of green hydrogen per day initially, with daily capacity designed to increase to 132,000 kg by 2028. 

The green hydrogen, which emits zero carbon when used as an energy source, will be liquefied on site, stored and transported to customers to help establish hydrogen networks in the mobility and transportation industry.

The Memorandum of Understanding between ABB and Bair Energy provides scope to explore deploying digital twin technology enabled by the ABB Ability™ 800xA Simulator and ABB Ability™ Process Power Simulator. 

Digitial twins will be implemented across the network

These solutions will integrate electrical and process controls with dynamic simulation to provide a virtual representation of how the plant is designed, operated and maintained. This enables a shorter new plant start-up period, helps train operators and tests changes in a realistic but disconnected environment.

With transportation the number one cause of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, the project aims to provide a significant step in the decarbonisation of the US transport industry. Due to start operating in 2025, the Clear Fork Texas Project will be one of the largest locally produced green hydrogen facilities.

“We are particularly pleased to be part of this project to support low-cost hydrogen production, and sustainable transport in the US and globally,” said Brandon Spencer, President of ABB Energy Industries. “It is an exciting time for hydrogen in the US following the Inflation Reduction Act incentives passed last year, which coupled with alliance formations such as this, support projections of reducing the cost of green hydrogen production to under $0/kg by 2030.”