New Green Hydrogen 60GW Project to be Built in Texas

Photo credit: Pixabay

A major new project in the United States is set to be developed and is named Hydrogen City, TX. It will be an integrated green hydrogen production, storage and transport hub growing to 60GW in size and producing over 2.5 billion kilograms of green hydrogen per year. The project is centered around a hydrogen storage facility in the Piedras Pintas Salt Dome located in Duval County. Pipelines will deliver the green hydrogen to Corpus Christi and Brownsville where it will be turned into green ammonia, sustainable aviation fuel and other products or delivered by pipeline directly to hydrogen power plants and other users around the state.

The project will be powered by 60GW of behind-the-meter solar and wind power with additional renewable energy drawn from the ERCOT grid during periods of low prices.

Planned to be built in phases, the project’s first stage is expected to commence operations in 2026, consisting of 2GW of production and two storage caverns at the Piedras Pintas salt dome. Access to salt storage is critical to the scaling-up of green hydrogen production as it allows for maximum utilization of electrolysers and serves asa buffer between variable wind and solar production and final delivery of green hydrogen to customers.

Eventually, more than 50 caverns can be created at the Piedras Pintas salt dome, providing up to 6TWh of energy storage and turning the dome into a major green hydrogen storage hub, similar to the role Henry Hub plays in the natural gas market.

Negotiations are ongoing with respect to end-use options for GHI-produced green hydrogen. These options include:

• Green ammonia for export markets
• Green ammonia for the fertilizer market
• Sustainable aviation fuel
• Sustainable Rocket Fuel
• Fuel switching power plants

The plans for Hydrogen City are large enough that eventually the project could supply multiple types of customers.