Early last month, US engineering and construction giant McDermott International announced it landed a contract to build a power-to-gas facility in the state of New Jersey. In fact, this asset will use solar energy to produce green hydrogen to inject into natural gas distribution networks. Furthermore, the facility will develop hydrogen for home and commercial use.
Accordingly, this deal is part of the Hydrogen Forward Initiative, focused on advancing hydrogen development in the US.
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McDermott advancing its energy transition plans through a new green hydrogen deal
In early February, McDermott International announced it landed a contract to build a power-to-gas facility in the state of New Jersey. Indeed, this asset will advance the Company’s energy transition plans using solar energy to produce green hydrogen to inject into natural gas distribution networks. Moreover, the facility will develop hydrogen for home and commercial use.
Accordingly, this deal is part of the Hydrogen Forward Initiative. Therefore, this plan is focused on advancing the development of hydrogen in the US.
The engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) award for New Jersey Natural Gas’s new asset went to McDermott’s CB&I Storage Solutions business. Notably, it designs and builds storage facilities, tanks, and terminals.
McDermott said initial engineering is underway at offices in Plainfield, Illinois. Besides, project completion is expected this year. Furthermore, the Company added that the contract would expand its energy transition portfolio through this project. Again, the power-to-gas facility will be located in Howell, New Jersey.
The Company stated that incorporating a measure of green hydrogen produced with renewable energy can reduce an existing town gas network’s overall carbon footprint. For instance, hydrogen produces no greenhouse gas emissions when combusted.
In this sense, New Jersey Resources, the parent organization of New Jersey Natural Gas; said it intends to meet operational emissions reduction targets by “continuing to upgrade its natural gas infrastructure. Moreover, the company stated it aims to introduce decarbonized fuels; such as renewable natural gas and hydrogen, into its supply,” among other measures.
Thus far, the natural gas subsidiary operates 7500 miles of transportation and distribution infrastructure. Indeed, this capacity reaches more than 500,000 customers in five New Jersey counties.
The Hydrogen Forward Initiative
Last month, Shell, McDermott International, and other players from across the new and fossil energy sectors partnered to form an initiative called Hydrogen Forward.
According to the parties, it comes when the country’s; “lack of systemic policy support” for the sector leaves it trailing Europe and Asia. Furthermore, this is leading hundreds of billions of dollars to those economies.
The founding members are Air Liquide, Anglo American, Bloom Energy, CF Industries, Chart Industries, Cummins, Hyundai, Linde, Toyota, Shell, and McDermott. Moreover, the companies said they were “united under a shared belief” in the rapidly progressing technology’s environmental and economic benefits.
Therefore, Hydrogen Forward aims its members to “make significant domestic investments; and drive specific projects across the nation to bring these technologies to scale today.”
Besides, the initiative added that the market for hydrogen; “produced domestically with low or no carbon footprint” would help decarbonize heavy-emitting segments of the economy; from shipping and transportation to power generation. Also, it is a boom to the emerging hydrogen value chain “including job opportunities and revenue generation.”
Finally, “from the manufacturing and sale of hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles to supporting the fueling stations that keep these vehicles moving; our members are on the leading edge of transportation innovation,” said Hydrogen Forward.
