Fusion Fuel and Electus Energy to Develop 75MW Californian Solar-to-Hydrogen Plant

by Will Norman (PV Tech) Green Hydrogen company Fusion Fuel has penned an agreement with energy infrastructure developer Electus Energy to build a 75MW green hydrogen plant in Bakersfield, California.

The project will consist of 75MW of solar powering a hydrogen electrolyser plant capable of generating 9,500 tonnes of hydrogen annually, using Fusion’s HEVO technology. Fusion Fuel said that investment is expected to close in early 2024, with commissioning complete in mid-2025. The project will require an estimated investment of US$185 million.

This represents Irish-headquartered Fusion Fuel’s first foray into the North American market, and the company said that the Bakersfield solar-to-hydrogen facility will form the cornerstone of its US operations.

Last month, PV Tech Premium published a feature discussing the role of hydrogen in easing solar curtailment; as grid insufficiencies and transitioning power systems put limits on the rate of solar installations, hydrogen plants offer an outlet for excess solar capacity. READ MORE

Excerpt from PV Magazine: The proposed project is a solar-to-hydrogen site that would make use of Fusion Fuel’s proprietary hydrogen electrolyzer technology, called HEVO. The company said the facility, its first in the United States, would produce up to 9,300 tons of hydrogen fuel per year to fuel heavy-duty trucks.

Fusion Fuel’s HEVO technology is a miniaturized electrolyzer, affixed to the back of concentrated solar power (CSP) panel, which utilizes both photovoltaic-generated electricity and thermal energy. By using both heat and electricity, the electrolyzer’s efficiency is boosted considerably, thereby reducing the levelized cost of green hydrogen, said the company. The technology also uses dual-axis trackers to follow the sun throughout the day.

“By integrating the HEVO directly to the CPV module, not only are we able to utilize the electrical energy to power the electrochemical reaction without transport or conversion losses, but we can also recover that wasted thermal energy and use it to pre-heat the feed water, reducing the electrical load required to split water by roughly 10%,” said Fusion Fuel.

Once operational, the project will provide enough hydrogen fuel to support over 1,000 Class 8 trucks or buses per day. Class 8 is the largest category of trucking, with trucks weighing over 33,000 lbs.

Hydrogen is considered an effective use-case for technologies that need to readily dispatch high amounts of power, like in heavy-duty trucking or in industrial processes. However, the process of creating hydrogen fuel, electrolysis, requires large amounts of electricity. The marriage of solar and hydrogen electrolysis at one site helps trucking fleets achieve their emissions reduction requirements.

The partnership may mark the beginning of a “hydrogen highway” vision for the region, linking California to Texas with a chain of green hydrogen fueling stations. READ MORE