An Albuquerque, New Mexico-based energy startup has opened its first hydrogen facility, with the plant located in St. Charles County.
The startup, BayoTech Inc., on Thursday held a ribbon-cutting event for its new hydrogen production facility in Wentzville. BayoTech built the facility through a partnership with Ranken Technical College; it's located on Ranken’s Wentzville campus, at 755 Parr Road.
BayoTech’s Wentzville production hub is expected to annually produce 350 tons of hydrogen and create 10 jobs locally. The production plant is owned by BayoTech.
BayoTech, founded in 2016, is focused on creating small, localized hydrogen production plants designed to more quickly and cheaply provide hydrogen compared with larger-scale production facilities. It also provides hydrogen transportation and storage services. New Mexico Inno, a sister publication of St. Louis Inno, has reported that BayoTech’s hydrogen hubs are designed for "localized" production, meant to involve lower transportation costs and easier on-site access for hydrogen-using companies and vehicles.
BayoTech’s first customer for its Wentzville facility is Nikola Corp. (Nasdaq: NKLA), a Phoenix-based manufacturer of hydrogen-powered trucks. BayoTech in July said it has entered into a hydrogen transport and offtake agreement with Nikola.
BayoTech in December 2022 announced it had broken ground on its hydrogen production facility in Wentzville. It chose the site as its first production facility because of its partnership with Ranken, said BayoTech President and CEO Mo Vargas. BayoTech and Ranken plan to work together to create new education programs focused on hydrogen production. Initial conversations with Ranken were focused solely on a training partnership, but progressed to include plans for the hub, Vargas said.
“What better way to train than having an actual hub here,” he said.
Ranken has its main campus in St. Louis and sites in Troy, Wentzville and Perryville. The private, nonprofit institution offers programs in automotive, electrical, construction, information technology and manufacturing.
Vargas said BayoTech was introduced to Ranken through Ferguson-based industrial technology giant Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR). BayoTech in 2021 forged a partnership with Emerson that involves using the Ferguson-based industrial giant’s automation technology to produce its hydrogen. In addition to its relationships with Emerson and Ranken, BayoTech is also a portfolio company of St. Louis venture capital firm Cultivation Capital.
BayoTech said it privately funded the development of its new Wentzville hydrogen hub. It declined to share its investment costs, though Vargas said it costs about $15 million to $30 million for the company to build out its hubs, depending on size. BayoTech said it worked with more than 20 St. Louis-area companies that provided supplies and services for construction.
Vargas said BayoTech plans to build more than a dozen hydrogen hubs in the next four to five years, with the next locations to be located in California. BayoTech in January 2021 announced it had raised $157 million in financing.
