NFE teams up with Plug Power for green hydrogen plant on Gulf Coast

U.S. energy company New Fortress Energy (NFE) has signed a deal with compatriot hydrogen company Plug Power for a 120-megawatt industrial-scale green hydrogen plant near Beaumont, Texas.

On 4 August, New Fortress Energy announced that it entered an agreement with Plug Power, a provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions, for what is expected to be one of the largest green hydrogen plants in North America.

The facility is to leverage Plug’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis technology and enable the production of more than 50 tonnes per day (tpd) of green hydrogen. With the development of additional supporting infrastructure, the facility will be scalable to nearly 500 megawatts.

The green hydrogen project site is strategically located on the banks of the Neches River in Jefferson County, Texas. This gives it proximity to industrial end-users as well as access to reliable power and logistics including rail, marine, and existing pipelines that span the U.S. Gulf Coast region.

The Port of Beaumont and the broader Sabine-Neches Navigation District are home to an array of large-scale industrial facilities in the refining, petrochemical, and other sectors that use hydrogen.

“We are pleased to enter into this agreement that marks the beginning of our collaboration with Plug,(…) that shares our vision for the role of hydrogen in accelerating a clean and secure energy transition around the world,” said Wes Edens, CEO of NFE, said: “Amid an increasingly favorable U.S. policy environment for hydrogen, we are focused on scalable solutions that have a real impact on decarbonization.”

“Plug’s decarbonization goals and NFE’s energy transition goals are strongly aligned, and our partnership has strengthened at a pivotal time for the green hydrogen industry,” Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug, said. “This facility is a model that we intend to replicate in other locations across the country.”