Oklahoma is prepared to demonstrate hydrogen’s commercial viability, and it is doing it regionally through a partnership with two adjacent states.
Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana announced this week that they are establishing a regional hydrogen hub in the goal of securing a billion dollars or more in federal funding to demonstrate the states’ capabilities.
There are numerous ways in which this effort may take place throughout the three states, according to Kenneth Wagner, Oklahoma’s secretary of energy and environment.
In 2021, Wagner chaired a task team that investigated Oklahoma’s capacity to make, store, and provide hydrogen as an environmentally friendly alternative fuel that might be used to power both vehicles and generators.
With substantial natural gas production, wind energy, and sufficient cheap water, Oklahoma has a plethora of possible hydrogen sources.
In brief, the task committee anticipated that if the endeavor was pursued, Oklahoma’s economy would gain more than 6,000 jobs.
Additionally, it expected that hydrogen production may have an annual economic impact on the state of between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion, if demand for the fuel grows as anticipated.
Indeed, Australia-based Woodside has already announced plans to establish a project in Ardmore with the goal of producing 90 liquid tons of “green hydrogen” day by 2025. “Green hydrogen” is hydrogen created from water using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Wagner said this week that Woodside will invest $700 million in the Ardmore facility.
Arkansas, like Oklahoma, has a plethora of natural resources and nuclear energy that might be harnessed to provide electricity for hydrogen harvesting.
And Air Products, a company that manufactures, distributes, and sells hydrogen derived from natural gas, announced in October that it will invest $4.5 billion in a new complex in Louisiana that will capture natural gas fuel via carbon capture and sequestration, with the resulting carbon dioxide piped to underground salt domes for storage.
According to company executives, the facility would take three years to develop, generating 2,000 construction jobs, and will employ 170 permanent employees with an annual payroll of $15.9 million after it opens in 2026.
The complex is capable of producing about 750 million cubic feet of “blue” hydrogen each day. Air Products also manufactures blue hydrogen at a facility in Port Arthur, Texas. Officials claimed the captured CO2 is fed to oilfield operators for use in increased oil recovery efforts.
Wagner stated that showing hydrogen’s viability as a commercial fuel may occur in a variety of ways – trains, planes, trucks, autos, as well as barges and ships — are all possible hydrogen consumers.
In a release issued Thursday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the establishment of the regional headquarters.
Each governor, Wagner stated, feels that the production and development of all energy sources is in the national interest.
Wagner, who will represent Oklahoma in the partnership with counterparts from other states, said Friday that Oklahoma and its partners could receive more than $1 billion in funding to develop and implement their plans from the $9.5 billion provided by the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act of 2021.
