Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.) announced that it will build, own and operate a 10 metric ton per day facility to produce green liquid hydrogen in Casa Grande, Arizona. The zero-carbon liquid hydrogen facility is expected to be on-stream in 2023 and its product will be sold to the hydrogen for mobility market in California and other locations requiring zero-carbon hydrogen.
The facility will use two thyssenkrupp nucera electrolyzers to produce gaseous hydrogen, which will be converted to liquid hydrogen using Air Products’ proprietary technology. The site will also include a terminal for distributing product to customer locations throughout California and other markets.
Air Products’ production process eliminates carbon by powering the entire facility with zero-carbon renewable power. The facility will include advanced compression technology supplied through the Baker Hughes strategic alliance to feed the liquefier. This compression technology is also being used for Air Products’ previously announced world-scale carbon-free hydrogen NEOM project located in Saudi Arabia, and the recently announced net-zero hydrogen production complex in Alberta, Canada.
Through several regulations California has taken steps to aggressively decarbonize its transportation sector, the largest emissions sector in its economy, through conversion to zero emission vehicles. The state has also set a goal that all drayage trucks be zero emissions by 2035 and heavy duty vehicles convert to zero emissions vehicles by 2045. Hydrogen is an essential part of decarbonizing the transportation sector. Hydrogen fuel cells are gaining momentum as the technology of choice compared to batteries in heavy-duty applications due to faster refuel times, longer range, and larger payloads, while also performing better in extreme climate conditions. Hydrogen as a transportation fuel most closely mirrors the traditional transportation fueling experience.
“We’re excited to bring this new source of green hydrogen to the California market and recognize the vision of decarbonizing the transportation sector. California is a global leader in the energy transition and as a global leader in hydrogen and hydrogen for mobility, Air Products is proud to contribute to solving a significant energy and environmental challenge. The Arizona project is another link in the hydrogen supply chain to ensure reliable supply of decarbonized fuel to customers. Air Products is continuing to pursue other opportunities to produce low and zero-carbon hydrogen to help meet the growing demand in world leading geographies,” said Eric Guter, Air Products’ Vice President, Hydrogen for Mobility.