Universal Hydrogen has selected a 50-acre block of land northeast of the Albuquerque International Sunport’s passenger terminal to manufacture and distribute hydrogen storage modules, construct airplane retrofit kits, provide aftermarket maintenance services, and handle administrative operations.
The position provides access to a runway and the possibility of reclaiming a rail line south of the Sunport in the future. New Mexico will be essential to the company’s ambition to decarbonize difficult-to-abate greenhouse gas emissions in aviation, ground transportation, and heavy industries, thereby assisting the United States in meeting its Paris Agreement commitments. Additionally, the corporation maintains operations in California, Washington, and Toulouse, France.
“This project puts New Mexico and Universal Hydrogen at the center of the global effort to decarbonize transportation and aviation in particular,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said.
“Hydrogen, solar, wind, and alternative energy are job-rich industries and New Mexico’s partnerships with these companies are part of a forward-thinking model to create a robust and diversified economy, while being a part of the solution when it comes to a changing climate.
“Aviation is going to be one of the most difficult sectors of our economy to decarbonize. The clean hydrogen capsules that Universal Hydrogen plans to manufacture in Albuquerque will be central to reducing carbon pollution in air transportation — a major contributor to our climate crisis. I’m proud to welcome all of the jobs and investment that Universal Hydrogen is bringing to New Mexico,” U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said.
Universal Hydrogen plans to spend one to two years planning and building its New Mexico facilities, with the goal of beginning full-scale manufacture in 2024.
It expects investing approximately $254 million in New Mexico over the next seven years and plans to add 500 jobs. These positions will require highly skilled engineers and composite experts, who will be compensated well. New Mexico’s governor has committed $10 million from the state’s Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) job development fund.
Albuquerque’s fiscal agent will be the City of Albuquerque, which is considering giving additional funding from its municipal economic development fund. The building project alone is estimated to generate over 1,200 employment, while the production and distribution center is expected to generate over $700 million in economic effect over the following decade.
“With two federal Department of Energy research labs and a skilled workforce, the future for new, innovative energy technology is here in New Mexico,” Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes said. “Gov. Lujan Grisham gets it and she thinks big — New Mexico is now competing for sophisticated companies with highly paid jobs, and winning.”
“Our bold commitment to taking meaningful climate action is attracting companies that share our values,” Environment Department Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said. “Even more important is that Universal Hydrogen will hire New Mexicans to broadly decarbonize the aviation industry from right here in New Mexico.”
Economic assistance is contingent upon approval by the Albuquerque City Council and will be paid out as Universal Hydrogen meets agreed-upon economic development objectives under a forthcoming Project Participation Agreement. Additionally, Universal Hydrogen is requesting federal funding to assist in scaling its manufacturing and production capacities.
“Universal Hydrogen’s decision to build here at the Aviation Center of Excellence is a good opportunity for the Sunport,” Richard McCurley, director of aviation for the City of Albuquerque, said. “This is prime real estate for all types of aviation-adjacent businesses, and we look forward to building a partnership.”
Universal Hydrogen has signed a letter of intent with the City of Albuquerque to acquire 50 of the 80 acres formerly occupied by a decommissioned north/south runway.
The Aviation Department’s Business Development Division has been selling the shovel-ready site to aviation, aerospace, and research and development industries for several years. Universal Hydrogen is well positioned to serve the aviation hydrogen value chain, including hydrogen fuel distribution and hydrogen-powered aircraft.
The company uses unique capsules to safely transport hydrogen and act as modular tanks that can be put straight onto airplanes. The technology will serve as the foundation for a logistics network that will transport hydrogen from production facilities to airports via existing freight infrastructure, avoiding the need for costly new pipelines, tankers, and hydrogen storage facilities.
Additionally, the business is developing powertrain conversion kits that will enable existing regional turboprop aircraft, such as the Dash 8-300 and ATR 72, to fly on hydrogen. It has signed agreements with 11 airlines to convert almost 100 regional airplanes, with the objective of being FAA-certified and operating commercially by 2025.
After demonstrating success with regional aircraft, Universal Hydrogen intends to expand its modular fueling solution to larger commercial aircraft, drones, industrial equipment, and ground transportation, all of which have high carbon footprints and will require hydrogen to meet pollution-reduction targets.
“Hydrogen is the best and only scalable solution to truly decarbonize aviation, and we want to bring it to market decades sooner than anyone thought possible — by 2025,” Jon Gordon, co-founder and general counsel for Universal Hydrogen, said. Gordon said the company chose Albuquerque for manufacturing and distribution because of its strategic location that allows the company to leverage air, rail, and the interstate highway system as well as robust partnerships in governments, industry, and research institutions. “I can’t imagine a better place to be. We need a highly skilled workforce, and we need it immediately,” Gordon said. “We see New Mexico as a place that will give our employees an affordable, high quality of life with access to culture and the outdoors. It’s really a dream location.”
He said that both Senator Heinrich and Governor Lujan Grisham are unusual among political officials in fully recognizing the transformative economic effect of sustainable hydrogen, especially its capacity to lessen our need on fossil fuels.
“New Mexico has some of the most forward-looking political figures in the country right now as far as seeing the potential of hydrogen to transform our economy and eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels,” Gordon added. “New Mexico’s leadership will attract other companies to the region as well. That’s important to us. We want to be a significant catalyst to build this sustainability-focused ecosystem in New Mexico.”
The Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance, a not-for-profit private-sector economic development organization in the region, assisted Universal Hydrogen in its expansion.
“New Mexico has long been a hub for new innovation and the work being done at Universal Hydrogen will continue to put us on the map as a leading location for advanced technologies,” Danielle Casey, president and CEO of Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance, said. “The applications for scalability are only limited by the imagination and what better place to do this work than in New Mexico. We were honored to again work in tandem with state and local partners to make it possible to welcome Universal Hydrogen to the region.”
