Los Angles skyline

Image by Armin Forster from Pixabay

The Green Hydrogen Coalition, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and other partners launched HyDeal LA, an initiative to achieve at-scale green hydrogen procurement at $1.50/kilogram in the Los Angeles Basin by 2030.

HyDeal LA aims to overcome the biggest barrier to the green hydrogen economy—its high cost—by launching a commercial green hydrogen cluster at scale.

Green hydrogen can be produced from renewable electricity and water or organic waste, can be used as a carbon-free fuel, and provide long-duration seasonal energy storage.

Phase 1 of HyDeal LA will design the supply chain needed to achieve $1.50/kg delivered green hydrogen in the LA Basin. It also will strive to agreen on terms and conditions to achieve production, storage, transport, and delivery of green hydrogen at scale.

LADWP said that green hydrogen “is the key to reliably achieving 100% renewable energy.”  The HyDeal LA effort aims to catalyze the supply chain needed to achieve large-scale, low-cost green hydrogen power supply for LADWP’s local power plants.

In March, a study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory said that Los Angeles’ goal of reaching a 100% renewable, reliable, and resilient grid could be met as early as 2035. Doing so will require adding new solar, batteries, wind, and transmission, along with operational practices that make more efficient use of those assets. The study did not address specific costs, but said that economic impacts to the city would be “small relative to the overall size” of LA’s economy.

Power plant conversion

LADWP is currently leading the conversion of the Intermountain Power Project in Delta, Utah, to become one of the world’s first gas turbines designed and built to operate on 100% green hydrogen.

Dubbed “IPP Renewed,” Intermountain project includes retiring existing coal-fired units at the power plant site and installing new natural gas-fired electricity generating units capable of utilizing hydrogen for 840 MW net generation output. Additional investment will modernize the power plants transmission system to southern California, and develop hydrogen production and long-term storage capabilities.  The new natural gas generating units will be provided by Mitsubishi Power and designed to use 30% hydrogen fuel at start-up, transitioning to 100% hydrogen fuel by 2045 as technology improves.

HyDeal LA is part of HyDeal North America, a commercialization platform launched by the Green Hydrogen Coalition. It is modeled after HyDeal Ambition, a similar project in Europe committed to producing and buying 3.6 million tons of green hydrogen per year for the energy, industry, and mobility sectors at €1.5/kilogram (kg) before 2030.

In addition to LADWP, HyDeal LA leaders include 174 Power Global, Mitsubishi Power, and SoCalGas. Key implementation partners include Clifford Chance, Corporate Value Associates, Cranmore Partners, Energeia, Marathon Capital, Sheppard Mullin, and Strategen.

Earlier in May, Mitsubishi Power and Texas Brine Co. agreed to develop large-scale long-duration hydrogen storage to support decarbonization efforts across the eastern United States.

This collaboration expands Mitsubishi Power’s capability to store hydrogen in salt caverns across North America. As one of the nation’s largest brine producers, Texas Brine and its affiliates have salt positions in New York, Virginia, Texas, and Louisiana that will enable access to major load centers in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the Gulf Coast.

Expanding the use of salt caverns for hydrogen energy storage offers an opportunity to create an infrastructure for clean energy resources throughout the U.S. to benefit industries such as power, transportation, and manufacturing that are targeting net zero carbon emissions.

This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-usa.com, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-usa.com).

Image: Warren Entsch MP

In May 2019, a federal government grant of $990,150 backed Daintree Renewable Energy Pty Ltd toward a feasibility study that would take the fully renewable solar baseload-power microgrid to ‘shovel ready’ status within 12 months. If what Federal MP Warren Entsch has said is true, construction on the project should be underway in a matter of months. 

“Work commenced in early December 2019,” said Entsch, “and will be finalised in July 2020…The final report will include a complete series of engineering and technical design packages including a detailed energy load profile study, microgrid management design, solar generation and storage analysis and design, electrical and civil work designs and microgrid economic analysis.” 

Because the Daintree is a World Heritage Protected Rainforest there are heavy restrictions on planning and development. Because of this, Entsch has also quashed the rumour that further development in the region was on the cards. The microgrid project is it, and, Entsch assures us, it “is being designed to align with the strict planning regime and accommodate energy requirements for existing population and businesses.” 

The proposed microgrid would reduce the Daintree area’s reliance on diesel dramatically. Currently, the region relies on four million litres of diesel fuel per year to generate power. 

Volt Advisory Group project manager Richard Schoenemann said work on the project was “actually” slightly ahead of schedule. “It will remove the need to burn dirty and inefficient diesel in the Daintree,” said Schoenemann, “allowing customers to have access to a cleaner, more affordable, more reliable source of energy.” 

“But more importantly,” Schonemann stressed, “once the concept is demonstrated and up-and-running it will have enormous potential to improve the power supply and lives of people living in remote communities including throughout the Torres Strait.” 

Like many remote island communities, Torres Strait Islanders would greatly benefit from the sustainable renewable energy supplied by solar based microgrids.

The federal government grant forms part of its $50.4 million Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund, part of the Morrison Government’s $2 billion Climate Solutions Fund. You may remember the Climate Solutions Fund as the pitiful federal effort toward the nation’s Paris targets that was supposed to be a 10-year investment plan but has already been pushed to 15 years, cutting the investment by 30%.  

Under the scheme, the Coalition government plans to support exploratory work for up to 50 off-grid and fringe-of-grid feasibility studies, and take proposals like the Daintree region project to the investment stage.

There must be something in the water in Tasmania at the moment, and I’m not talking about James Boags, because the island state has once again demonstrated its grand ambitions in the renewable energy transition.  

Last month, Hydro Tasmania laid out its audacious plan to become the Battery of the Nation in a white paper suggesting the mainland’s pipeline of solar and wind (especially Victoria) could be freed-up by developing, via an additional interconnection across the Bass Trait, Tasmania’s great potential for pumped hydro storage.  

This month, Hydro Tasmania is speaking up the state’s potential as a leader in the nation’s production of green hydrogen from renewable sources like solar electrolysis. The analysis, contained in the white paper “Tasmania’s ‘green hydrogen’ opportunity – what makes Tasmania a unique, green hydrogen zone?” argues that Tasmania has competitive advantages over other states to become Australia’s green hydrogen zone. 

Hydro Tasmania’s CEO, Steve Davy, said a large-scale, cost-competitive green hydrogen production industry could be developed in the state over the coming decade. 

“Our analysis indicates that green hydrogen can be produced in Tasmania for approximately 10-15% less than other Australian power grids needing to offset emissions and 20-30% less than from dedicated off-grid renewables, due to the high plant utilisation that can be supported by Tasmania’s hydropower,” said Davy. 

Davy also believes it’s two great ambitions are interlinked. The Battery of the Nation project, which would require additional interconnection to the mainland, could also be utilised for the transport of green hydrogen from a state with a high level of energy security, stability and self-sufficiency in renewable energy by 2022. 

Tasmania’s impressive renewable record is another reason why it posits itself as a leader in the integration of green hydrogen production with renewable energy systems. Tasmania already has the excess solar and wind generation to produce hydrogen by electrolysis. “This could make use of existing facilities,” argues Davy, “including the Kind Island and Flinders Island renewable energy integration hubs.” 

“As countries like Japan and South Korea look to green hydrogen as a way to meet emissions reduction targets, hydrogen production has the potential to further support large-scale investment in new renewables, as well as direct employment,” continued Davy. 

Hydro Tasmania might be getting ahead of itself in presuming green hydrogen trade agreements with countries like Japan and South Korea, the transportation of green hydrogen by ship reduces its efficiency by a significant margin. However, nothing is stopping green hydrogen’s transportation via pipelines across the relatively short distance of the Bass Strait. 

It is clear that Tasmania has the bite to back up its bark and should be considered as part of the desperately needed National Hydrogen Plan. 

This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-usa.com, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-usa.com).