Innovation, Raising capital, Regulatory

Exclusive: California IPP considering hydrogen options for gas generation portfolio

A California-based IPP is considering burning hydrogen in the thermal plants it acquires, as well as in a portfolio of gas peaking assets it is developing in Texas and the western US.

December 13, 2023

Nightpeak Energy, the Oakland-based IPP backed by Energy Spectrum Capital, is planning to have wide optionality to burn hydrogen in the gas plants it acquires, as well as in quick-start peaking natural gas assets it is developing in Texas and the western US, CEO Paris Hays said in an interview.

“There’s just not a lot of places in this country where you can procure enough hydrogen at a reasonable price to actually serve wholesale electricity customers,” Hays said of the existing hydrogen landscape.

Still, OEMs are figuring out in real time which of their deployed fleet can burn hydrogen, he said. Studies on blending seem to be yielding positive results.

“That’s great news for a business like ours, because we can have optionality,” Hays said. When interacting with equipment providers, conversion to hydrogen is an important, if expensive, discussion point.

“We want to be in a position to be able to do that for our customers,” Hays said. “We can offer a premium product, which is kind of rare in our business.”

Nightpeak recently purchased Saguaro Power Co., which owns a 90 MW combined cycle power plant in Nevada. That facility is a candidate for hydrogen repowering, Hays said, though that’s just one option for an asset that is currently cash-flowing well.

The Nevada facility is close to California, which notably is a market with a demonstrated appetite for paying green premiums, Hays said.

“We wouldn’t manufacture hydrogen ourselves, we would be a buyer,” he said. “This is one path that any plants we own or develop could take in the future.”

Nightpeak has yet to announce any greenfield projects. But Hays said the company is developing a portfolio of “quick-start” natural gas generation projects in ERCOT and WECC. Those assets, 100 MW or more, are to be developed with the concept of hydrogen conversion or blending in mind.

Proposition 7, which recently passed in Texas, could present an opportunity for Nightpeak as the legislation’s significant provisions for natural gas development has pundits and some lawmakers calling for the assets to be hydrogen-ready.

Investor interest in being able to convert gas assets to burn hydrogen reflect an important decision-making process for Nightpeak, Hays said.

“Does it makes sense to just buy a turbine that only burns natural gas and may be a stranded asset at some point, or would we rather pay and select a turbine that already has the optionality?” Hays said. “Putting price aside, you’re always going to go for optionality.”

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Innovation, Project news

Sumitomo and Hoegh Autoliners studying ammonia bunkering

The parties have signed an LOI to study the supply of clean ammonia as a bunker fuel at the ports of Singapore and Jacksonville, USA from 2027 onwards.

Sumitomo Corporation and Höegh Autoliners have signed a Letter of Intent to collaborate on the supply and delivery of clean ammonia as a next-generation sustainable maritime fuel for Höegh Autoliners’ upcoming Aurora Class PCTC vessels.

The twelve state-of-the-art vessels are set to become the largest and most eco-friendly car carriers ever built, with the capability to run on zero-carbon ammonia or carbon-neutral methanol, according to a news release.

Under the agreement, the parties will look into the supply of clean ammonia as a bunker fuel at the ports of Singapore and Jacksonville, USA from 2027 onwards.

Moving forward, the companies will embark on a comprehensive evaluation of the compatibility between the PCTC vessels and the ammonia bunkering facilities at the identified bunker ports. They endeavor to make necessary adjustments to specifications for both “shore-to-ship” and “ship-to-ship” bunkering operations and undertake safety assessments to establish standardized operational protocols and regulations in close coordination with pertinent government agencies.

December 6, 2023

Personnel moves, Raising capital

US electrolyzer developer makes senior hires

A pair of clean fuel industry veterans have joined Wisconsin-based Advanced Ionics, an electrolyzer developer that recently completed a Series A.

Advanced Ionics, the Milwaukee-based green hydrogen electrolyzer developer, has added John Jung as President and Chief Operating Officer and Ignacio Bincaz as Chief Commercial Officer to its leadership team, according to a news release.

The new executives will support the global growth of the company, expand manufacturing capabilities, and launch next-generation pilot programs, the release states. These appointments follow the company’s Series A round earlier this year.

In April Resource reported that AI would raise capital to commercialize an electrolyzer. The company closed a $12.5m Series A financing led by bp ventures, with Clean Energy Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and GVP Climate.

Jung will manage Advanced Ionics’ business operations and oversee growth in the US and globally. Previously, he was the President of Energy Vault Solutions and led Greensmith Energy as founder, president and CEO before its acquisition to Wärtsilä.

Bincaz will be responsible for leading the company’s commercial strategy and initiatives to drive revenue growth. He will work with leaders in ammonia, petrochemical, nuclear and steel. He recently served as the Head of North America for H2Pro and a Senior Vice President at Worley, Inc.

December 19, 2023

Innovation

Ohmium inks 120 MW electrolyzer deal with NovoHydrogen

The electrolyzers will provide 120 MW of green hydrogen capacity to an IPP to run through a natural gas plant in New Jersey.

California-based Ohmium International has finalized an agreement to provide Colorado-based NovoHydrogen with PEM Electrolyzers, according to a press release.

The electrolyzers will be used to provide 120 MW of green hydrogen capacity to an independent power producer to run at a natural gas peaking power plant in New Jersey.

Ohmium manufactures standardized interlocking modular PEM electrolyzers that produce pressurized high-purity hydrogen.

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November 16, 2022

Innovation, Project finance, Project news, Raising capital

Exclusive: Modular green ammonia firm launches capital raise

A modular green ammonia firm has hired a boutique investment bank and has launched a roughly $150m capital raise.

Talus Renewables, a developer of modular green ammonia projects, has hired a boutique investment bank and has launched a capital raise.

The company has hired GLC Advisors as sellside advisor, according to sources familiar with the matter, and launched the capital raise this month, which seeks to raise $50m of equity and an additional $100m of financing.

CEO Hiro Iwanaga told ReSource last year that the company was gearing up for a Series B capital raise, including initiating talks with potential advisors.

Talus offers containerized systems that produce green ammonia from power, water, and air, in the form of the TalusOne (up to 1.4 tonnes of green ammonia daily) and talusTen (up to 20 tonnes per day).

The company delivered its first system to Kenya Nut Company, a multinational agricultural firm in east Africa, under a 15-year fixed-price ammonia offtake agreement, Iwanaga said in the interview. As of November, the company had a pipeline of approximately $1bn of indicated interest for ammonia from potential customers, which included large farms and mining companies in several global jurisdictions, including the US.

It recently completed a $22m Series A fundraising that would fund the delivery of the next three to four systems before the end of the year, Iwanaga said, stretching Talus’ footprint to Europe and the US, with one more system heading to South America.

The company is deploying to large farms and mining companies, where ammonia is used as a blasting agent. In the US, the company has partnered with agribusiness Wilbur-Ellis and farmer-owned cooperative Landus, Iwanaga said.

Iwanaga and GLC did not respond to requests for comment about the recently launched capital raise.

April 17, 2024

exclusive

Project news

Denbury to transport CO2 for Louisiana blue methanol project

A subsidiary of Denbury Inc. will transport and store CO2 for a planned blue methanol plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Denbury Carbon Solutions has executed a 20-year definitive agreement to provide CO2 transportation and storage services to Lake Charles Methanol in association with that company’s planned 3.6 MMPTA blue methanol project, according to a press release.

LCM’s facility will be located along the Calcasieu River near Lake Charles, Louisiana, approximately 10 miles from Denbury’s Green Pipeline.

The facility is designed to utilize Topsoe’s SynCORTM technology to convert natural gas into hydrogen which will be synthesized into methanol while incorporating carbon capture and sequestration.

The process is anticipated to deliver more than 500 million kilograms of hydrogen per year as a feedstock to produce the 3.6 MMTPA of blue methanol.

LCM is finalizing its major permits to begin construction. The project is expected to reach a Final Investment Decision in 2023 with first production anticipated in 2027.

October 27, 2022

exclusive

M&A, Project finance, Raising capital

US hydrogen and LNG developer raising capital

A Texas-based project developer is conducting a development capital raise for a flagship LNG and green hydrogen project in the Northeast.

New Energy Development Company, a Katy, Texas-based developer with offices in Boston, Texas, is raising between $5m and $8m for an LNG liquefaction, storage and re-gasification facility with additional green hydrogen production and storage, Partner Scott Shields said in an interview.

The company is not using a financial advisor, Shields said, noting that a larger second round capital raise will likely start near the beginning of 2024.

New Energy has secured a brownfield site for a peak-shaving LNG facility in New England with 2 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and 50 MW of solar pv, Shields said. Also planned is an expandable 40 MW PEM electrolyzer line.

He declined to name the state in which the project is located, adding that the company is trying to put a strong support system and marketing plan in place before the location is made public.

The proceeds of the capital raise will go in part to hiring local lawyers and engineering and design work (pre-FEED and FEED), through to FID, Shields said. The project will be built in two phases, Phase 1 being the LNG component and Phase 2 focusing on green hydrogen.

The LNG facility will be the offtaker for the hydrogen, which will run the plant when the solar is insufficient. Through an open season process New Energy has identified five investment grade offtakers for the LNG.

Ramping capex

“We’ve been self-funding up until now,” Shields said of New Energy, which has also put capital and development resources into half-a-dozen other projects around the country.

It’s time for a ramp up in capital expenditures and New Energy is in discussions with strategic and private equity providers, Shields said, noting that the company would prefer the former. Discussions include options to fund just the flagship project, as well as platform equity.

Shields noted that he has investment banking experience and that New Energy Managing Partner Alexander “Hap” Ellis serves as chairman of Old Westbury Funds and the George and Barbara Bush Foundation.

New Energy has partnered with McDermott International to develop patented GreenER hydrogen facilities, a modular, expandable hydrogen facility that can produce 24,000 kg per day (2,760 MMBtu) of renewable hydrogen. The companies in 2021 completed engineering deliverables for multiple designs which are marketed as ideal for grid-scale blending with natural gas pipelines, blending for existing or new power generating facilities and storage injection into salt caverns and above ground storage tanks.

The company has also combined GreenER LNG and hydrogen production and storage plants into an integrated energy hub, capable of producing an additional 200,000 MMBtu of LNG.

New Energy recently hired Chico DaFonte, formerly a vice president at Liberty Utilities, a subsidiary of Algonquin Power, as executive vice president working on LNG and hydrogen projects.

February 1, 2023