Cadiz and RIC Energy to build California’s largest green hydrogen facility

Cadiz (CDZI) and RIC Energy, a global renewable energy company, 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. RIC Energy chose the Cadiz area for its first US 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 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. 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. According to ARCHES, its projects are expected to create over 200,000 green jobs in California and are forecast to generate $2.95B per year in economic value beginning in 2030, including significant health and healthcare cost savings from reduced pollution.