U.S. Department of Energy invites Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project for US$595mn financing

Mitsubishi Power Americas and Magnum Development announced that their jointly developed Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project has been invited by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office to submit a Part II Application for up to US$595 million under the Title 17 Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Program to develop a proposed green hydrogen hub in Delta, Utah. 

Haddington Ventures, the financial advisor for the project and equity sponsor of Magnum Development, will submit the Part-II Application this summer. If successful, the project will enter due diligence for the potential loan guarantee. 

If the project reaches loan closing, debt financing from the DOE would support the construction of the green hydrogen hub, which ultimately targets building more than 1,000 megawatts (MW) of electrolysis facilities capable of producing more than 450 metric tonnes per day of green hydrogen. The hydrogen would be stored in the Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project’s salt caverns, which are natural geological formations providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective bulk storage of hydrogen. The massive salt formation is adjacent to the Intermountain Power Project near Delta, Utah, with transmission interconnections to major demand centers and significant renewable energy resource opportunities in the region.

The project’s salt caverns will be capable of holding more than 5,500 metric tonnes of hydrogen. From an energy storage perspective, one cavern holds the equivalent of 150 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of carbon-free dispatchable energy and/or decarbonized fuel that can be used in other industries.