'MAYBE' TECH

Plug Power Will Make Hydrogen From Water in California Drought

David R. Baker
Mon, September 20, 2021



(Bloomberg) -- Plug Power Inc. plans to make green hydrogen from waste water in drought-stricken California, a potential model for producing the clean-burning fuel at a time when clean water is in short supply.

The facility in Fresno County, announced Monday, will take recycled water from a new wastewater treatment plant and strip hydrogen from it, while the remainder goes to a nearby community. The plant will produce 30 metric tons of hydrogen each day, using electrolyzers to break water into hydrogen and oxygen, with power from a 300-megawatt solar farm, Plug Power said.


Governments worldwide are exploring hydrogen as a tool to fight climate change, because the fuel can be burned in turbines or fed through fuel cells to generate electricity without producing greenhouse gases. But almost all hydrogen produced today is stripped from natural gas, in a process that releases carbon dioxide.

Green hydrogen, produced without carbon emissions, is better for the atmosphere but needs substantial amounts of clean water as its raw material at a time when water supplies worldwide are under increasing strain. Green hydrogen production consumes 10 liters of water to make a kilogram of hydrogen, while stripping hydrogen from natural gas requires between 4.5 and 7 liters of water per kilogram, according to BloombergNEF estimates.

Plug’s plan includes supplying treated water to the city of Mendota, which can use it to irrigate parks. The city lies in California’s agricultural Central Valley, where a deepening drought has led severe over-drafting of local aquifers. Plug aims to break ground on the project in 2023 and commission it in 2024.

“We’re recycling water that’s already used,” Chief Executive Officer Andy Marsh told Bloomberg Television Monday. “So, I feel very comfortable with our plant.”

The plant is the latest of Plug’s projects to produce hydrogen from Texas to Upstate New York.


Plug Power to Build Largest Green Hydrogen Production Facility on the West Coast

Plug Power, Inc.
Mon, September 20, 2021

The Fresno County plant will produce 30 metric tons of liquid green hydrogen per day

LATHAM, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), a leading provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions for the global green hydrogen economy, is expanding its green hydrogen ecosystem to the west coast with the construction of a new state-of-the-art production facility in Fresno County, California. Green hydrogen is produced through the electrolysis of water with electricity generated from zero-carbon sources and only harmless oxygen is emitted during the process.


As the largest green hydrogen production facility on the west coast, the plant will produce 30 metric tons of liquid green hydrogen daily, serving customers from San Diego to Vancouver. The facility will use a new 300 megawatt zero-carbon solar farm to power 120 megawatts of Plug Power’s state-of-the-art PEM electrolyzers, which split water into hydrogen and oxygen through an electro-chemical process.


The California plant joins the company’s growing national network of plants in New York, Tennessee, and Georgia that will supply 500 tons per day of liquid green hydrogen by 2025, replacing 4.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and 1,000 tons per day globally by 2028.

When fully built, the network of plants in the U.S. will offer transportation fuel to customers that is price-competitive with diesel. Plug Power’s investment in green hydrogen production will contribute to decarbonizing light-duty vehicles, freight-transportation, and logistics operations, and supports California’s leading role in developing hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel.

The project includes construction of a new tertiary wastewater treatment plant in the city of Mendota that will provide recycled water for the people of Mendota and supply the full needs of the plant.

Pending environmental and construction permitting approvals, the plant will break ground in early 2023 and complete commissioning in early 2024.

“Plug Power is fully committed to a green hydrogen future and is investing heavily in building a green hydrogen ecosystem to support our customers’ efforts to achieve their sustainability goals,” said Andy Marsh, CEO for Plug Power. “California is leading the world in the adoption of green hydrogen and renewable energy. Plug Power is proud to be a part of that transition and to support the state’s continued leadership.”

“This project showcases what can happen when market pull, innovation and public policy intersect – privately financed, large scale, zero-carbon hydrogen transportation fuel that creates jobs in a key region: Fresno County,” said Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. “We commend Plug Power for investing in a clean, sustainable future in California and beyond.”

“Plug Power has a long-standing commitment to fuel cell technology. With this project, they are taking an innovative, sustainable and low-impact approach to provide instate renewable hydrogen,” said CARB Executive Officer Richard W. Corey. “This will help support the state’s target of carbon neutrality by 2045 or sooner, and continue to transition the transportation sector out of petroleum, including trucks that carry freight and cargo. That will benefit our most impacted communities including those located near ports, rail yards, and distribution centers.”

“The project is a huge win for the City of Mendota, and we are very happy to see this significant investment in clean energy in our community,” said Mendota Mayor, Rolando Castro. “This green-hydrogen plant will provide full time high-paying jobs for our people. The city will also get a new wastewater treatment plant to provide recycled water for the city and all the needs of the hydrogen plant.”

“The hydrogen plant will create higher wage job opportunities for residents and offer the City of Mendota recycled water that can be used in parks and other areas, relieving the city of additional groundwater pumping and worsening overdraft,” said Supervisor Brian Pacheco, District 1.

“Green hydrogen represents the energy of the future and with this major announcement, Fresno County will soon plant its flag as the strategic center for California’s hydrogen economy. This project is poetic justice for our region, which has struggled with persistent poor air quality, and will produce the zero-emission fuel needed to support the state’s renewable energy goals. We are proud to have worked alongside Plug Power representatives, GO-Biz, the County of Fresno, the City of Mendota and our Westside cities in supporting the catalytic investments Plug Power’s hydrogen production facility stands to create.” Lee Ann Eager, President/CEO, Fresno County Economic Development Corporation

About Plug Power

Plug Power is building the hydrogen economy as the leading provider of comprehensive hydrogen fuel cell turnkey solutions. The Company’s innovative technology powers electric motors with hydrogen fuel cells amid an ongoing paradigm shift in the power, energy, and transportation industries to address climate change and energy security, while meeting sustainability goals. Plug Power created the first commercially viable market for hydrogen fuel cell technology. As a result, the Company has deployed over 40,000 fuel cell systems for e-mobility, more than anyone else in the world, and has become the largest buyer of liquid hydrogen, having built and operated a hydrogen highway across North America. Plug Power delivers a significant value proposition to end-customers, including meaningful environmental benefits, efficiency gains, fast fueling, and lower operational costs. Plug Power’s vertically-integrated GenKey solution ties together all critical elements to power, fuel, and provide service to customers such as Amazon, BMW, The Southern Company, Carrefour, and Walmart. The Company is now leveraging its know-how, modular product architecture and foundational customers to rapidly expand into other key markets including zero-emission on-road vehicles, robotics, and data centers. Learn more at www.plugpower.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve significant risks and uncertainties about Plug Power Inc.(“PLUG”), including but not limited to statements about PLUG’s expectations regarding its multi-year investment and growth, PLUG’s clean hydrogen technology and fuel cell solutions playing a critical role in achieving climate and decarbonization goals, deepening of relationships with key stakeholders, and acceleration of demand and adoption of hydrogen technology. You are cautioned that such statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times that, or by which, such performance or results will have been achieved. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in these statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of PLUG in general, see PLUG’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Risk Factors” section of PLUG’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2020, June 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and PLUG undertakes no obligation to update such statements as a result of new information.

SOURCE: PLUG POWER