MS - How $1 billion from Department of Energy could help create a green hydrogen hub in South Mississippi
Hy Stor Energy on Thursday took the next step to develop a large-scale hydrogen production and storage hub in Mississippi. The company said in a press release it submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Energy for funding of the operation that would generate zero emission hydrogen energy and create hundreds of jobs. The funding would come through DOE’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub initiative.
Federal investment of up to $1 billion would push Hy Stor Energy’s development plans into a multi-billion-dollar project, the company said, and establish Mississippi as one of the nation’s largest producers of clean hydrogen. Ground breaking could come as early as this year, according to the press release.
WHERE AND HOW WILL IT WORK?
Based in Jackson and with an office in Gulfport, Hy Stor has acquired over 70,000 acres from Jackson south to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to be used for green energy production.
Hydrogen will be created by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis, using wind and solar energy to produce zero carbon or methane emissions. A rendering of the company’s zero-carbon hydrogen ecosystem shows the type of facility, located near water and with wind turbines for the production, storage, and delivery of carbon-free energy in one location.
Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar will be used to power the plant and the electrolysis that will generate hydrogen energy. Hy Stor Energy Hy Stor has locations under its control in Hancock County, along with Perry, Jones, Covington, Lawrence, Smith, Simpson, Claiborne, Bolivar and Hinds counties, the company said.
Hy Stor has locations under its control in Hancock County, along with Perry, Jones, Covington, Lawrence, Smith, Simpson, Claiborne, Bolivar and Hinds counties, the company said.
The plan is to have electrolysis for hydrogen production at several locations based on customer demand, and with close connections to the company’s storage facilities.
STORING HYDROGEN IN SALT DOMES
One of the reasons Hy Store officials chose to locate in Mississippi is the geology needed for storing hydrogen.
“Salt cavern geology is only found in specific locations around the world, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast is one of them,” said Claire Behar, Hy Stor’s chief commercial officer.
“Salt cavern storage is the lowest-cost solution for bulk storage of hydrogen,” the company said, and the only commercially viable solution for storage over days, weeks or a season.
Underground salt caverns on the Gulf Coast already are used by the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to store emergency crude oil in massive caverns — typically 200 feet in diameter and 200 feet tall.
