Air Products, AES to build the US' largest green hydrogen facility in North Texas

Air Products has teamed with the power utility conglomerate AES Corp. to build a $4 billion green hydrogen production plant in North Texas that they say will be the largest green hydrogen facility in the US, the companies said Dec. 8.

The facility will have an electrolyzer capacity capable of producing over 200 mt/day of green hydrogen using about 1.4 GW of dedicated wind and solar assets. The facility and all renewable assets will be within Wilbarger County, which is located just west of Wichita Falls, Texas, along the Texas-Oklahoma border.

"The new facility in Texas will be, by far, the largest mega-scale clean hydrogen production facility in the US to use wind and sun as energy sources," said Air Products CEO Seifi Ghasemi. "We have been working on the development of this project with AES for many years and it will be competitive on a world scale while bringing significant tax, job, and energy security benefits to Texas."

The facility is expected to begin operations in 2027 and is expected to provide zero-carbon hydrogen to the mobility market and to industrial buyers.

AES, which is one of the leading renewable energy suppliers in the US, will equally own and operate the renewable and electrolyzer assets with Air Products, a legacy hydrogen provider with an extensive hydrogen network along the Gulf Coast.

Air Products said in an email that Thyssenkrupp, a German manufacturer of alkaline electrolyzers, will "probably be the most likely people who are going to provide the electrolyzers" thanks to a preexisting global agreement between the two companies. Back in April, Air Products similarly selected Thyssenkrupp to provide alkaline electrolyzers for its 10 mt/day green hydrogen plant in Arizona.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the price of green hydrogen produced in the US Gulf Coast using alkaline electrolysis at $2.87/kg (including capex) Dec. 7, while the assessed price of green hydrogen produced using PEM electrolysis was $3.84/kg.

The Center for Houston's Future, a non-profit pushing Texas' emerging low carbon industries, praised the announcement, saying that the effort "validates our research showing that Texas will be a global leader in creating a clean hydrogen ecosystem," CEO Brett Perlman said.

"The center is currently tracking over 25 clean hydrogen projects across the state totaling over 5.7 million mt of clean hydrogen, almost double current grey hydrogen production," Perlman said in a statement.

The Center for Houston's Future and GTI Energy also recently spearheaded the Gulf Coast's application to receive between $1 billion-$1.25 billion and become one of at least six hydrogen hubs funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has been leading a fight to punish investors choosing to divest from fossil fuels, also praised the green hydrogen project.

"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," he said in a statement. "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."