A plan to pump clean energy into long-haul tractor-trailers on routes across the southwest is one of five hydrogen production projects in New Mexico that could receive federal money through a regional "hydrogen hub" proposal that four western states have advocated for throughout the year.
Libertad Power, a hydrogen company based in Santa Fe, has partnered with Hyundai Motor Corp. and fuel delivery company Diesel Direct to build network of hydrogen fueling stations that will span from Texas to California. The company's planned hydrogen network is included as part of a bid for up to $1.25 billion in federal funding to go toward a "Western Inter-State Hydrogen Hub (WISSH)".
New Mexico joined Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to put together the proposal.
More federal funding, if approved, would help expand the production, processing, delivery, storage and use of clean hydrogen in the state. The money is made available as part of the $8 billion set aside in last year's bipartisan infrastructure law for building out hydrogen hubs across the country.
WISHH submitted a concept paper to the U.S. Department of Energy Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program on Nov. 4, and last month it was released to the public. It shows the locations and companies behind a total of eight hydrogen production projects.
Five of the eight projects are in New Mexico, with one each in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
Although some information has been redacted in the public version of the paper, it includes the companies behind the proposed projects and some details about how the hydrogen would be produced. More details will become available as four states formalize the proposal, said Matthew Maez, the communications director for the New Mexico Environmental Department.
Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (NAPI) is named on two of the projects. The paper states that NAPI "intends to convert its farming operation to hydrogen fuel," although details about where that hydrogen would be sourced from are removed.
WISHH is also "coordinating a potential partnership" between New Mexico Gas Company and NAPI that would produce hydrogen in northwestern New Mexico for use in large farm equipment, according to the paper.
NAPI's headquarters is just south of Farmington, outside the eastern edge of the Navajo Nation in off-reservation trust land. It manages irrigation and other agricultural practices for the Navajo Nation.
Tallgrass Energy, an oil and gas company based in Leawood, Kan., wants to convert the Escalante Generating Station in Prewitt from coal to hydrogen power production. The hydrogen would be produced using natural gas while capturing and sequestering released carbon dioxide, according to the paper. Tallgrass acquired 75% interest in the shuttered coal plant in August 2021.
The paper also includes Connecticut-based utility company Avangrid Inc. (NYSE: AGR). Though sparse on specifics, the paper states that Avangrid could build out hydrogen production "using a mixture of its existing and planned renewable assets."
Avangrid's been in the news over the last couple of years after proposing a merger with holding company PNM Resources Inc. (NYSE: PNM) in October 2020. The deal hasn't materialized after state regulators failed to approve the merger.
The eight projects could reduce carbon emissions in the four states by 35,000 megatons per day, according to the paper, although it clarified that a "full lifecycle analysis of our eight principal projects is yet to be completed."
"These projects represent an investment in power for businesses, homes and transportation," New Mexico Environmental Secretary, James Kenney, said in a prepared statement shared with Business First via email. "The private and public capital are essential for standing up a sustainable clean hydrogen economy in alignment with New Mexico's ambitious economic and climate goals."
The department of energy is in the process of selecting proposals to be included in a shortlist for further consideration. WISHH would submit a full application by April 7 if it's selected to move on, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
