Cadiz and RIC Energy Partner to Build the Largest Hydrogen Production Facility in California
Hydrogen facility at Cadiz Ranch site to use 100% solar power to produce 50 tons of green hydrogen per day to fuel zero-emission trucks, cars and electricity
Cadiz, Inc., a California water solutions company, and RIC Energy, a global renewable energy company, have announced they have entered into an agreement to build California’s largest green hydrogen facility at Cadiz Ranch in the Mojave Desert. Under the agreement, Cadiz will supply land and water to RIC Energy for the creation of industrial quantities of 100% green hydrogen using solar energy. Rail lines, pipelines and interstate highways that intersect Cadiz Ranch will deliver green hydrogen to Southern California markets to fuel zero-emission trucks, cars and electric generation.
“Cadiz is proud to partner with RIC to bring this important new clean energy facility online,” said Cadiz CEO Susan Kennedy. “Cadiz sits at the crossroads of major rail, pipeline and highway infrastructure in California’s Inland Empire with thousands of acres for solar and an aquifer system larger than Lake Mead. It is the ideal location for green hydrogen production - the largest hydrogen production facility in California.”
RIC Energy chose the Cadiz area for its first U.S. facility after a six-month diligence process that evaluated several locations across the state. Plans call for a self-sufficient, integrated, off-grid green hydrogen production facility utilizing photovoltaic (PV) solar for its power supply on up to 3,000 acres of the Cadiz Ranch. The new facility is expected to feature a combination of state-of-the-art technologies to create green hydrogen, complying with the strictest regulations of IRA’s Section 45V, using on-site Cadiz water resources and fully renewable electricity generated from a local solar array. Cadiz will supply up to 500 acre-feet of water per year for hydrogen production. Cadiz, in turn, will be able to use green hydrogen and solar to power its water supply and groundwater banking operations.
“This is an exciting opportunity for RIC Energy,” said Jonathan Rappe, CEO of RIC Energy North America. “We have clean energy facilities in 14 countries on four continents, but this partnership with Cadiz is unique. In a single location that is close to roads, train lines and pipelines we have all the water, land and sun right at hand to build and operate what will be one of the world’s largest self-sufficient green hydrogen facilities to date.”
When operating at full capacity, the clean energy facility will produce 50,000 kilograms of hydrogen per day to fuel zero-emission trucks and cars as well as be able to supply to many other California industries currently using fossil hydrogen. Plans call for on-site electricity storage along with equipment to compress and liquefy the hydrogen for rail or road transportation. The site at Cadiz is also ideal for possible future hydrogen pipelines serving the Los Angeles region. The hydrogen can also be blended locally with natural gas for transport via on-site and nearby existing gas transmission pipeline networks, with the objective of serving California’s burgeoning hydrogen market and meeting California’s mandate to deliver 90% clean electricity by 2035.
California is one of seven awardees of the Department of Energy’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs). That designation is supported by a landmark $12.6-billion agreement, including $1.2 billion in federal funding, to build and expand the production of renewable hydrogen in California with all possible speed and will be managed by ARCHES, the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, a California public-private partnership. RIC Energy’s project at Cadiz is a Tier 2 ARCHES project.
According to ARCHES, its projects are expected to create over 200,000 green jobs in California and are forecast to generate $2.95 billion per year in economic value beginning in 2030, including significant health and healthcare cost savings from reduced pollution.
