March 27, 2023 • Paul Rodden • Season: 2023 • Episode: 200
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Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!
In episode 200, A massive electrolyzer setup is coming to Texas, and a very special hydrogen as a service project gets kicked off in British Columbia. I’ll go over all of this on today’s hydrogen podcast.
Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy the podcast. Please feel free to email me at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com with any questions. Also, if you wouldn’t mind subscribing to my podcast using your preferred platform… I would greatly appreciate it.
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Paul Rodden
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Transcript:
A massive electrolyzer setup is coming to Texas, and a very special hydrogen as a service project gets kicked off in British Columbia. I’ll go over all of this on today’s hydrogen podcast.
So the big questions in the energy industry today are, how is hydrogen the primary driving force behind the evolution of energy? Where is capital being deployed for hydrogen projects globally? And where are the best investment opportunities for early adopters who recognize the importance of hydrogen? I will address the critical issues and give you the information you need to deploy capital. Those are the questions that will unlock the potential of hydrogen. And this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Paul Rodden, and welcome to the hydrogen podcast.
Before I get started today, I wanted to take a moment and thank all of you out there listening. Today we hit 200 episodes. This is a huge moment for us and our success in this venture is all thanks to you. Your support helps us more than you will ever know. And I sincerely thank all of you. And now, today’s show. In a press release from hydrogen Pro on March 20. US plant will more than double the manufacturing capacity. Hydrogen Pro will expand in the US with a new plant in Texas with a manufacturing capacity of 500 megawatts with this hydrogen Pro will take a market leading position and become the only viable large scale player providing high pressure alkaline electrolyzer technology and systems. In a quote from Tarjei Johansen, the CEO of hydrogen Pro, I am excited to announce that hydrogen Pro is expanding and more than doubling our production capacity. This move will increase hydrogen Pro’s manufacturing capacity to 800 megawatts in total, and represents a major milestone in establishing a global presence.
The estimated total investment will cost up to $50 million. The investment cost includes a separate advanced electrode manufacturing facility, representing a technology game changer and the hydrogen pro’s solutions offering and this technology is invented at hydrogen pros r&d department in Denmark. They also say that the US market is a top priority. The US market has been served by hydrogen pros European sales team for some time, which has resulted in a significant pipeline of relative and attractive projects already in progress. The US organization will be ramped up in parallel with the manufacturing expansion. As the inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress in August of 2022 is beginning to show effects. The US has become the market leader on green hydrogen, the favorable tax scheme for producers of green hydrogen has resulted in surging demand. According to Johansen it is growing four to six times compared to pre Ira figures. Again, according to Johansen we have great confidence in our technology and systems being an excellent fit for large scale industrial applications. We are now seeing an unprecedented increase in demand for green hydrogen following the IRA. Consequently, establishing and manufacturing site to serve North American market is a natural next step in our global expansion plan and a very exciting opportunity for our company. Now the US market is hydrogen pros top priority and manufacturing capacity on this continent provides a fundamental platform to succeed with the announced growth ambitions.
Again, according to Johansen, the US factory will be our bridgehead into the North American market. A key factor for us is to become the leading provider of green hydrogen technology and systems is our presence across continents securing sustainable and local supply chains. The new site is planned to have an initial capacity of 500 megawatts with the option to significantly scale up the capacity to several gigawatts in due time. Okay, so a very interesting press release from hydrogen Pro. Now, if you’re not from Texas, you may be wondering, why is it that Texas was chosen for this project to be initiated? Well, believe it or not, Texas is the largest renewable energy producer in the United States. And so to locate this project in Texas makes sense. If for no other reason than because of the renewable energy capacity here, but there’s also the other reason of offtake opportunity. Refineries need hydrogen, as well as the other demand markets that are growing here in the state. Now, obviously, there are still a lot of questions that remain on this project getting developed, such as location and where they’re going to be sourcing their water from. But with the size of this project, and the apparent eagerness of hydrogen Pro to get this project developed, I’m going to be making sure to see when those questions get answered and when we could be looking at fid next in an article on March 24.
Fleet owner.com writes Hydra Energy signs new hydrogen refueling deals with fleets. hydrogen as a service provider Hydra energy has signed new deals with eight new commercial truck fleets in Canada’s Prince George British Columbia region. This represents 82 class eight trucks to be retrofitted using hydrogen hydrogen diesel combustion conversion technology. Once converted by Hydra installation partner First Truck Centre, these trucks will refuel at the hydrogen refueling station. Hydra is building in Prince George. The station which will be operational in 2024 leverages green hydrogen produced on site by two five megawatt electrolyzers powered with Hydra electricity. In a quote from Hydra energy CEO Jessica Verhagen upon signing our first commercial fleet customer in Prince George and breaking ground on our local refueling station last year, we had an initial goal to secure 65 heavy duty trucks to leverage the new station once operational next year. She says we’re pleased to surpass this target with the signing of these eight fleets highlighting the continued interest in hydrogen trucking and the benefits it delivers for fleets of all sizes. Even with heavy payloads and challenging weather and road conditions like those found in northern British Columbia. Securing immediate off takers for our stations low carbon hydrogen is another critical piece in our Prince George hydrogen as a service blueprint illustrating to potential investors and licensees how hydrogen supply and demand can profitably come together.
We look forward to working with first trucks center to start converting these trucks about six months prior to our stations opening and continuing to work with the city of Prince George as the flagship stop in the western Canadian hydrogen corridor we’re building between the British Columbia coast and Edmonton. The eight companies who have signed a MoU represent a range of fleet sizes and types of heavy duty trucks. Arrow Transportation Systems, for instance, which specializes in bulk commodity reload operations and freight management services in North America signed the MOU. According to Jacob Adams, Arrows manager of optimization and sustainability, the carrier is quote, excited about the potential opportunity to collaborate with Hydra on hydrogen converted trucks. Annie Horning, CEO of Excel Transportation, a Prince George based transport and logistics service company for the forestry industry who also signed an MOU added once we heard about the progress hydra had been making on their hydrogen refueling station right in our own backyard.
The fact there hydrogen wouldn’t cost more than diesel, and that would cost nothing to retrofit our trucks to run cleaner and more efficiently, we wouldn’t pass on the opportunity. Hydra allows us to make a positive difference sooner than later, while eliminating our range anxiety concerns that could impact our service reliability Hydra’s Service Delivery Lead, Ilya Radetski also pointed out that in addition to Arrow and Excel The company also assigned MOU’s from Edgewater Holdings, Wilson Bros. Enterprises, Burke Purdon Enterprises, Godsoe Contracting, Keis Trucking, and Peace Valley Industries who all service the Prince George and northern BC regions Radetski also noted We also continue to have ongoing discussions with additional local fleets, who are keen to explore how hydrogen can benefit them. So very interesting development going on in British Columbia and Canada. Now I talked recently about class eight truck manufacturers converting or developing fuel cell alternatives to their diesel engines. And we also have Cummins who is also coming out with a internal combustion engine designed for hydrogen. This setup is different. This new model of hydrogen as a service is something I haven’t seen yet. And so what is that? Well, according to hydra energy’s website, the flexible hydrogen as a service model works like this the first installing hydrogen refueling stations and regions close to target fleets.
Now hydrogen as a service or H-A-A-S licensees determine a region that they want to provide full cycle hydrogen. From there, they’re responsible for procuring hydrogen and installing a hydrogen refueling station. They also retrofit fleets existing heavy duty trucks at no upfront cost. Hydras proprietary kit is not available for standalone purchase. It’s part of the Haas template, which opens the door to create demand for hydrogen supply. The conversion is done with no upfront costs to operators, the haas licensee pays for it.
The third part is fleet operators commit to five year exclusive contracts to buy hydrogen. Now in return for the conversion fleets sign a long term fuel contract to purchase hydrogen exclusively from the Haas provider. And lastly, hydrogen at a fixed price. These are typically five year contracts that provide hydrogen at a fixed price at parity with a diesel forecast. This stability and fuel pricing allows fleets to quote jobs for their customers with confidence. Well, it’s a very interesting setup. And I’m curious to see how this is going to proceed in British Columbia. And if it is a successful model, I would expect it to be replicated several times over, not just in Canada, but also in the United States.
And one of the things that I like most about this setup is this really sets at ease the minds of those fleet operators, who just made massive purchases for diesel internal combustion engines that can now migrate to a hydrogen hybrid model setup without affecting their balance sheet. And so I’ll say this good luck, Hydra, we’re pulling for you.
Alright, that’s it for me, everyone. If you have a second, I would really appreciate it. If you could leave a good review on whatever platform it is that you listen to Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google, YouTube, whatever it is, that would be a tremendous help to the show. And as always, if you ever have any feedback, you’re welcome to email me directly at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com. And as always, take care. Stay safe. I’ll talk to you later.
Hey, this is Paul. I hope you liked this podcast. If you did want to hear more. I’d appreciate it if you would either subscribe to this channel on YouTube, or connect with your favorite platform through my website at www.thehydrogenpodcast.com. Thanks for listening. I very much appreciate it. Have a great day.
