A group of companies in the US have entered a memorandum of understanding to explore the development of a green hydrogen project on Texas Gulf Coast which will be powered by GWs of wind and solar power capacity, which was not defined.
Apex Clean Energy, funds managed by the Infrastructure and Power strategy of Ares Management Corporation, EPIC Midstream Holdings, and the Port of Corpus Christi Authority (PCCA) are the signatories of this non-binding MoU.
The proposed project envisages the development of a green hydrogen production, storage, transportation and export operation, including a dedicated pipeline and a green fuels hub to be located at the Port of Corpus Christi on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Project partners believe that the project will produce green hydrogen and other derivative green fuels 'in volumes not yet seen in the United States, with additional scale possible by decade's end'.
While Apex will bring to the table its wind and solar projects currently under development in Texas to power the proposed facilities, EPIC will leverage its pipeline construction and operating expertise to develop the green fuels pipeline. PCCA will of course provide real estate and allow leveraging its existing and new storage, processing and export infrastructure for the purpose.
Green hydrogen thus produced be supplied to decarbonize difficult-to-abate industries including transportation, shipping, fertilizer, chemical, and refining sectors.
The MoU builds on a previous MoU signed between Ares and PCCA to use the latter's infrastructure to produce renewable energy with an aim to produce green hydrogen. This renewable energy could have also been directly supplied to the port and its customers.
"This initiative is exactly the type of interdisciplinary collaboration that would enable scalable projects that move the needle on diversification of the energy marketplace," said Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer for the Port of Corpus Christi, Jeff Pollack.