Touted as "the world's largest green hydrogen hub," the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Delta, Utah, has received a conditional $504.4 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, according to the agency's Loan Programs Office and companies involved.

A collaboration between Mitsubishi Power Americas Inc., Magnum Development LLC, Haddington Ventures LLC, Black & Veatch Holding Co. and other stakeholders, the more than $1 billion project is initially designed to harness renewable energy to create hydrogen using 220 MW of electrolyzer machines, producing up to 100 metric tons of hydrogen a day.

The hydrogen will be stored in two large salt caverns carved into a natural subterranean dome, each capable of housing 150 GWh. The hydrogen project would supply the adjacent Intermountain power station, an aging 1,800-MW coal plant operated by the Intermountain Power Agency that is being converted into an 840-MW hybrid combined-cycle gas plant in 2025. The power plant would begin by burning a blend of 70% natural gas and 30% green hydrogen in Mitsubishi turbines before gradually moving to 100% hydrogen sourced from renewables by 2045.

The facility, which recently broke ground, serves a host of municipal utilities in Utah and California, the largest of which is the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The hub, part of a broader 1,000-MW multi-technology development at the site, is a "first-of-its-kind clean hydrogen production and storage facility capable of providing long-term seasonal energy storage," Jigar Shah, director of the DOE Loan Programs Office, said in an April 26 statement. It aligns with DOE efforts to slash the cost of long-duration storage and green hydrogen, Shah said.

Expected to generate up to 400 construction and 25 operations jobs, the project "could help catalyze long-term job opportunities and transition the state to a new, clean energy economy for the future," Shah said.

'Well on its way'

The Delta facility is the second major hydrogen project to receive backing from the DOE since the Biden administration relaunched the loan program; it follows a $1 billion conditional commitment for a hydrogen and carbon black manufacturing facility in Nebraska in December 2021.

Financial adviser Haddington Ventures, which provides financial support for Magnum Development, is securing an additional $650 million in equity for the project in Utah.

"The Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project is well on its way to achieving its goal in the creation of a world-class green hydrogen hub," said Craig Broussard, CEO of ACES Delta LLC, a joint venture of Magnum Development and Mitsubishi Power Americas.

The project represents "a transformative event in the development of green hydrogen, long-duration energy storage and decarbonization at scale," said Mario Azar, incoming chair and CEO of Black & Veatch, which will provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the facility.

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