Air Products, AES to invest $4 billion in mega-scale hydrogen plant in Texas

Industrial gas supplier Air Products and energy company AES Corporation have revealed plans to invest approximately $4 billion to build, own and operate a green hydrogen production facility in Wilbarger County, Texas.

The mega-scale renewable power to hydrogen project will include approximately 1.4 GW of wind and solar power generation, along with electrolyzer capacity capable of producing over 200 metric tons per day of green hydrogen.

This will make it the largest green hydrogen facility in the United States.

Air Products and AES will jointly and equally own the renewable energy and electrolyzer assets, with Air Products serving as the exclusive off-taker and marketer of the green hydrogen under a 30-year contract.  

The facility is due to begin commercial operations in 2027, serving the growing demand for zero-carbon intensity fuels for the mobility market as well as other industrial markets.

Over the project’s lifetime, it is expected to avoid more than 50 million metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of avoiding emissions from nearly five billion gallons of diesel fuel. 

The project is subject to the receipt of local permits, and local, state and federal incentives.  

“We are very pleased to announce this exciting joint venture with AES, which is one of the leading renewable energy companies in America. 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 Seifi Ghasemi, Air Products’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. 

“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. We are excited to move forward and make clean green hydrogen available to US customers in the near future.”

AES President and Chief Executive Officer Andrés Gluski stated: “This project will capitalize on AES’ position as one of the nation’s largest renewable energy developers and its global leadership in innovations such as energy storage systems and supplying around-the-clock clean energy to data centres.

“We are very pleased to partner with the world leader in hydrogen, Air Products, for this first-of-its-kind mega-scale green hydrogen facility in the United States. We will build more than 1 GW of new solar and wind facilities to provide zero-carbon energy for electrolysis and related production facilities. AES believes that green hydrogen has a key role to play in decarbonising transportation and accelerating the future of energy.”

Air Products is also investing approximately $500 million to build, own and operate a 35 metric ton per day facility to produce green liquid hydrogen at a greenfield site in Massena, New York.

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) board supported the project by approving 94 MW of low-cost St. Lawrence hydroelectric power to Air Products for its investment.

Follow Offshore Energy’s Clean Fuel on social media: