The Obsidian Pacific NW Hydrogen Hub will help meet the region’s carbon reduction goals by making renewable hydrogen more available and affordable for Pacific Northwest commercial users who wish to reduce their carbon footprint.
More renewable energy options are needed as companies and governments rapidly work to reduce carbon emissions. Instead of producing hydrogen with fossil fuels, renewable hydrogen can be affordably made with solar and wind through nearby electrolyzers, replacing carbon emitting fuels with clean energy.
The Pacific Northwest is home to affordable renewable energy resources, such as solar, wind and hydro. We are also home to fertile agriculture, commercial transportation and industries that require backup generators during power outages, such as data centers and hospitals. This makes our region ideal for connecting renewable hydrogen production to customer demand. The Obsidian Pacific NW Hydrogen Hub connects areas where renewable energy can be used to produce renewable hydrogen to regional commercial customers. A storage pipeline will lower both production and transportation costs, providing the region with affordable access to this clean energy source.
The Obsidian Pacific NW Hydrogen Hub intends to be one of the federally funded renewable hydrogen hubs selected by the U.S. Department of Energy. It will include industrial parks in Oregon and Washington that will be home to new renewable nitrogen/ammonia fertilizer plants supplied through a new dedicated renewable hydrogen storage pipeline. Situating electrolyzers along the storage pipeline, where wind and solar are abundant, opens renewable hydrogen development to areas where renewable energy development is limited today because of transmission congestion. Using dedicated renewable energy projects to power electrolyzers to produce renewable hydrogen for the storage pipeline minimizes transportation and storage costs (e.g., compared to trucking, liquefaction, or carriers like ammonia).
Illustrative Map
The length and routes of the renewable hydrogen network will directly correlate to the amount of storage available and the location of supply and demand opportunities. For Phase I, Hermiston, Oregon, has been identified as a logical center for the hydrogen park with the hydrogen network stretching out through Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
- Hermiston to Boise, Idaho, because Boise leads the way to Salt Lake City, where the nation’s largest hydrogen storage facility will be located. Both systems would benefit by being connected.
- Hermiston to Spokane, Washington, which is proximate to both military bases and industrial parks, which would benefit immensely from readily available renewable hydrogen.
- Spokane on to Quincy, Washington, which offers significant opportunities to Microsoft and affords the Douglas County PUD, which already plans for an electrolyzer in East Wenatchee, an easy way to expand.
- Hermiston to The Dalles, Oregon, stopping short of the scenic Columbia River Gorge, but providing proximity to Google and the Arlington transfer station.
- Hermiston to Prineville, Oregon, to supply Apple and Facebook data centers.
The Obsidian Pacific NW Hydrogen Hub will help meet broad greenhouse gas reduction goals by making renewable hydrogen more available and affordable for customers interested in switching to this clean fuel.