Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. has welcomed Chevron U.S.A. Inc. as a new strategic partner to the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Delta, Utah.
The American oil and gas company’s Chevron New Energies division recently closed a transaction to acquire a majority interest in ACES Delta, LLC (ACES Delta) which is currently in charge of project development.
ACES Delta is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Power and Magnum Development and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron.
The addition of Chevron to ACES Delta highlights the immense potential the project brings to the advancement of lower carbon intensity solutions, specifically in the areas of hydrogen production, storage, and utilisation.
ACES Delta will leverage Chevron’s experience in the fuels business, alongside Mitsubishi Power’s industry-leading clean energy technology solutions and services.
The goal is to further advance decarbonisation efforts, facilitate growth in demand for hydrogen, and develop future opportunities for commercially viable alternatives in the transportation, power, and industrial sectors.
Mitsubishi Power Senior Vice President of Hydrogen Infrastructure Michael Ducker said: “The addition of Chevron to ACES Delta is further evidence that partnership and commitment from a diverse group of experts and leaders are beneficial to the industry’s continued pursuit of decarbonization solutions. This project is a bellwether for the industry and serves as a model for future innovative clean energy projects. We welcome Chevron and look forward to working together.”
The Advanced Clean Energy Storage project is an industry and utility-scale, clean hydrogen facility designed to produce, store, and deliver green hydrogen to the western U.S.
It intends to use excess renewable energy, such as wind and solar, to power large-scale electrolysers supplied by Mitsubishi Power that will produce lower carbon intensity hydrogen and oxygen.
The Advanced Clean Energy Storage project’s ACES 1 is expected to produce approximately 100 metric tonnes of hydrogen per day by mid-2025.
Chevron New Energies Vice President, Hydrogen Austin Knight said: “Expansion of the lower carbon intensity hydrogen supply, along with the development of innovative storage solutions, is critical to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. At Chevron, we look for projects that are moving the needle in this respect, and the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Delta, Utah is an example of a commercially viable project that will help advance a lower carbon future.”
The project intends to use Utah’s unique geological salt domes to store the hydrogen across two massive salt caverns, each capable of storing 150-gigawatt hours of energy.
The long-duration energy storage capability of the salt caverns is expected to help improve resource adequacy by capturing excess renewable power when it is abundant and dispatching it back on the grid when it is needed.
Offtake for the first two caverns has been secured by Intermountain Power Agency for their IPP Renewed project in central Utah.
The 840-megawatt natural gas power plant at IPP Renewed plans to operate on fuel with up to 30 per cent lower carbon intensity hydrogen in 2025 and 100 per cent by 2045.
