Between the Coasts: Utah

For many years, the East and West Coasts have been the dominant forces moving the hydrogen and fuel cell industry forward in the United States. Supported by policy, states like California are rapidly growing hydrogen refueling infrastructure to support a growing fleet of fuel cell vehicles. Meanwhile, a multitude of states on the East Coast, from New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, and more, are home to many of the world’s largest fuel cell systems manufacturers, hydrogen producers, and other companies supporting the industry, as well as numerous long-running fuel cell installations. But while they might be overlooked, states sandwiched between the dominant coasts are proving to be strong proponents of hydrogen. Hydrogen is a versatile fuel, capable of being produced from many different sources including renewable energy, biogas, waste, and natural gas. Given the flexibility, states are capable of charting their own path to building a hydrogen economy. States in the middle of the country are developing hydrogen technologies to reach a diverse array of sectors, showing potential for a boom in clean energy growth of their own.

Just south of Salt Lake City lies America Fork, home to FCHEA member Power Innovations. As a fuel cell company, Power Innovations is used to bringing revolutionary ideas to the forefront, but in January 2020, the company succeeded in bringing together many different companies, organizations, and even a state representative, to discuss the growth of the hydrogen economy across Utah. Power Innovations, along with Utah Inland Port Authority and Utah State Representative Melissa Ballard, held a roundtable meeting to discuss projections of hydrogen production growth from 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen per day to 100,000 kilograms per day within two to three years, as well as increasing storage capacity to 150,000 megawatt-hours by 2024. Attendees included FCHEA’s President, as well as members Plug Power and Nel Hydrogen, plus Linde, Praxair, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Big Navajo Energy and more.

Participants of the hydrogen roundtable in Utah. Source: Power Innovations

Big Navajo Energy, an energy company of the Navajo Nation and participant at the roundtable, is pursuing a method of producing hydrogen from reclaimed excess methane gas from petroleum drilling sites in Southern Utah. With help from Power Innovations, the energy company will capture about 80,000 cubic feet of methane daily that would have otherwise been vented or flare and convert it into hydrogen for use in fuel cell equipment. Together, the companies are reducing emissions and making hydrogen a viable source of energy across the state.

In a unique use of hydrogen, the Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) is working with FCHEA member Black and Veatch on the Intermountain Power Project (IPP) Renewal Project to replace a large coal-fired power plant in Utah with an 840-megawatt natural gas-fueled combined cycle power plant that will blend 30 percent renewable hydrogen at startup in 2025, and increase to 100 percent by 2045. Hydrogen is known to be a clean source when used in conjunction with a fuel cell, and similarly, only produces water as a byproduct when combusted. It is not often used within gas turbines due to lower efficiencies than fuel cells, but the technology offers the advantage of being able to ramp up production in response to demand. IPA seeks to use this plant to mitigate the duck curve experienced by California renewable energy systems, as well as green the energy grids in Utah and Nevada.

In 2019, a consortium of partners headed by Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) announced the pursuit of increasing renewable energy storage using Utah salt caverns with the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project. Salt is extremely impermeable, making it an ideal substance to contain a gas like hydrogen. MHPS and Magnum Development are engineering a cavern underneath the salt dome of Delta, Utah, by injecting water into the dome and pumping out the resulting brine solution. According to Forbes, a single cavern can store 150,000-megawatt hours’ worth of hydrogen energy. In contrast, one would need 40,000 shipping containers of lithium-ion batteries to hold the same amount of energy. The Delta salt dome is so large, it is possible to house up to 100 storage caverns. The development of hydrogen energy storage is crucial to a comprehensive clean energy plan, allowing renewable energy to take center stage during peak energy usage hours when renewable production decreases. The Advanced Clean Energy Storage project will help solidify Utah as a leader in the hydrogen and fuel cell industry by offering a solution to an otherwise detrimental issue.

Industry has clearly taken hold in Utah, incorporating a wide range of ways to introduce hydrogen into the energy market. With promising collaboration with state representatives and interest from many industry parties, Utah is positioned to springboard off of its close proximity to California and develop a full hydrogen infrastructure system. The Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association watches in anticipation of the developments to come to Utah.

Cover image by Joshua T via Pexels