The move comes as interest in green hydrogen grows as a tool to decarbonize specific industries, including heavy-duty transportation, heavy manufacturing and aviation. Contact online >>
The move comes as interest in green hydrogen grows as a tool to decarbonize specific industries, including heavy-duty transportation, heavy manufacturing and aviation.
Image: Plug Power
Hydrogen company Plug Power launched operations at the largest liquid green hydrogen plant in the U.S., located in Woodbine, Georgia.
The facility has the capacity to produce 15 tons of green hydrogen per day; enough, the company says, to power some 15,000 forklifts daily. It includes eight, 5 MW electrolyzers; the largest such electrolyzer deployment in the U.S., which produce hydrogen. This hydrogen gas is then condensed into a liquid, by dropping its temperature to -423F, at which point it can be routed to hydrogen fueling stations. The facility is located a mile away from highway I-95 and 20 miles away from I-10, giving it easy access to commercial and industrial centers across the country, the company said.
The hydrogen produced by the new facility will add to the liquid hydrogen deliveries that Plug Power currently makes to its customers for fuel cell electric vehicle fleets, stationary power applications, and other such uses. Liquid and gaseous hydrogen are both expected to positively impact the company''s bottom line, Plug Power said.
The move comes as interest in green hydrogen grows as a tool to decarbonize specific industries, including heavy-duty transportation, heavy manufacturing and aviation.
"The hydrogen market in the U.S. is at an inflection point. We expect hydrogen infrastructure and product offerings to vastly expand in the next five years, including increasing commercial uses in hard-to-abate sectors like concrete, steel, glass manufacturing, and more," Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power, told pv magazine USA.
The company is committed to driving that continued market expansion with the buildout of its North American hydrogen production plant network, strong partners, and expanded electrolyzer production, Marsh added.
The role of the hydrogen sector in the clean energy transition has been backed by recent legislation, such as the Inflation Reduction Act – and specifically, the clean hydrogen production tax credit (PTC), which Marsh said has the potential to catalyze the domestic hydrogen sector, and drive down costs, allowing the industry to scale in a meaningful way. At the same time, "there are still a lot of outstanding questions on the implementation of the PTC based on the draft guidance the U.S. Treasury Department released at the end of 2023," he added.
Now that the Georgia facility is online, the company is looking at building out a green hydrogen network of production plants across the U.S. and has made substantial progress on other U.S.-based plants, including plants in Louisiana, New York, and Texas, Marsh said.
"All these plants in development will benefit from our experience building the plant in Georgia," he said.
At the same time, Marsh noted, government policy support is essential for the hydrogen industry to scale and achieve cost parity with other energy sources.
"Policymaker guidance on incentives aimed at fostering the clean hydrogen industry must be clear and pragmatic in achieving these aims," he said.
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Green hydrogen storage and handling facilities at Plug Power production complex in Georgia that has now started operating.
Photo: Courtesy of Plug Power Inc.
The U.S. Energy Dept. is set to finalize by the end of March a $1.6-billion loan to clean energy technology firm Plug Power Inc. to build six U.S. green hydrogen production plants, company executives told analysts and investors on Jan. 23. Construction would start in the second half of 2024, with plans to produce 500 tons per day domestically by the end of 2025.
"The loan can catalyze our ongoing projects expected to generate over 200 tons of hydrogen daily," said CEO Andy Marsh. The DOE loan and January opening of the Latham, N.Y,-based firm''s Georgia hydrogen production plant made some analysts less concerned about the firm''s recently disclosed financial statements.
Plug Power is a corporate sponsor of five of seven U.S. hydrogen hubs DOE selected last year to share a total of $7 billion in federal funding from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
Citing supply chain constraints, the company said in a November federal filing, "there is no assurance that our hydrogen production will scale at the rate we anticipate or that we will complete hydrogen production plants on schedule." The firm also speculated it could lack "sufficient capital to fund our operations through the next twelve months." BMO Capital analyst Ameet Thakkar noted an "arduous path" for the firm until its federal funding is in place.
But other analysts were more positive and Marsh was optimistic, referring to the filing as a short-term technical requirement. "While the industry growth over the past few years hasn''t met our initial expectation, we remain optimistic about its future, especially with increasing government support," he said. "The essential role of hydrogen in addressing climate change is undisputed."
Plug Power shares (NASDAQ: PLUG) rose 34.3% at their highest point in the week ending Jan. 26, said S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The company now is building hydrogen plants in Texas, New York and Louisiana, with four sites under development.
The Woodbine, Ga.. plant is a large proton exchange membrane electrolyzer coupled with a liquefaction plant that will initially produce 15 tons of fuel per day, which is expected to double. The company plant in St. Gabriel, La., under way in a joint venture with chemical manufacturer Olin, is set to start operation later this year. Olin is North America''s largest producer of electrolytic hydrogen, Plug Power said.
Plug Power CFO Paul Middleton, however, told analysts that US Treasury Dept. proposed rules last month on federal tax credits for hydrogen projects were not as favorable as expected. Marsh termed them "disappointing" but expected they would ''loosen up" as final rules are negotiated, he told Bloomberg TV.
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