Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) has partnered with Newpoint Gas to supply innovative hydrogen generation, decarbonization, and combustion technologies for the rehabilitation of the former U.S. Department of Energy Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site near Piketon, Ohio.
B&W will provide its BrightLoop technology to manufacture hydrogen and extract carbon dioxide for storage, as well as a steam generator leveraging the company’s BrightGen hydrogen combustion technology to generate clean, nearly emission-free energy. Construction and installation services will be provided by Babcock & Wilcox Construction.
When finished, the $1.51 billion h2Trillium Energy and Manufacturing (h2TEAM) complex will function as an integrated energy decarbonized hydrogen and closed-loop manufacturing facility, producing clean hydrogen and absorbing carbon dioxide for long-term storage or beneficial usage.
“We look forward to working with Newpoint and its partners on this innovative and groundbreaking clean energy project,” said Joe Buckler, B&W Senior Vice President of Clean Energy. “B&W is a global leader in the clean energy revolution, and we’re excited to lend our expertise and game-changing technologies to the h2TEAM clean hydrogen and decarbonization project.”
“We appreciate Babcock & Wilcox and the opportunity to develop the h2TEAM project. The addition of B&W builds on the momentum for this project and sets the foundation for visionary industries to continue to come together and bring several hundred clean energy jobs to central Appalachia,” said Wiley Rhodes, CEO of Newpoint Gas. “The reindustrialization of the PORTS facility not only presents an enormous opportunity for industry, but also has a chance to be the single most impactful driver of economic growth and stability for this region in a generation.”
In March of 2022, Newpoint initiated the ATH2 Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub initiative. B&W, Newpoint, and other technical partners intend to additionally apply for a $8 billion Department of Energy Hydrogen Hub grant (H2Hubs) to fund the project and further development.
BrightLoop, a component of B&W’s ClimateBright suite of clean energy technologies, is adaptable to a wide variety of viable feedstocks, product outputs, and applications. It can convert a variety of fuels, including natural gas, coal, petcoke, methane, biomass, biogas, and other byproducts and materials from industrial processes, into numerous products. Benefits of the highly scalable BrightLoop system may be applied to a wide range of industrial processes to produce hydrogen, syngas, and steam for energy, processes, and heating.
BrightGen, a proven and reliable hydrogen combustion technology from B&W, has been delivered to more than 60 industrial water-tube boilers burning hydrogen and hydrogen-blended fuels with zero CO2 emissions. BrightGen technology can be used to new installations or retrofitted to existing equipment in order to safely and efficiently burn hydrogen.
