| Independently Powered Energy News

The nation’s largest natural gas utility is seeking to get ahead of the competition by proposing to build a green hydrogen pipeline to the Los Angeles Basin to drive down greenhouse gas emissions. In the next five years, Southern California Gas wants to develop a renewable hydrogen pipeline network to carry 500 million cubic feet a day, which is about 25% of its natural gas deliveries today. This project “would drive deep decarbonization of dispatchable electric generation, hard-to-electrify industries, and heavy-duty transportation in the LA Basin,” SoCalGas stated Feb. 17. The company, which serves 22 million, outlined a three-step plan for its “Angeles Link,” which includes finding a source or sources of renewable hydrogen and determining the route of the pipe to unspecified delivery points. “We will consult with a broad range of community groups, activists, and other stakeholders in any local areas where projects are planned, and we look forward to incorporating that feedback into our strategy,” said utility spokesperson Christine Detz. The plan follows last May’s announcement by a public, private, and nonprofit consortium working to develop a green hydrogen market. This so-called HyDeal LA seeks to create demand from the Los Angeles Department of Water by fueling its 4,500 MW of power plants, 3,800 MW in-basin, partly then fully with green hydrogen over 10 years starting around 2025. The HyDeal partnership includes SoCalGas, turbine maker Mitsubishi, the Green Hydrogen Coalition group, and solar developer 174 Power Global. Crucial to the success of the HyDeal LA and SoCalGas’s plan is lowering the current high cost of producing green hydrogen, particularly that of the hydrolyzer. HyDeal LA aims to push down the cost from about $6 per kilogram to $1.50 per kg by 2030. The U.S. Department of Energy is providing funding to push the cost of renewable hydrogen down even further, to $1.00 per kg. In addition, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act mandates developing a National Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, allocating $9.5 billion for clean hydrogen programs, including $8 billion for at least four regional clean hydrogen hubs. Green hydrogen needs to be transported in separate pipelines because it’s a smaller molecule and can corrode metal natural gas pipelines. There are a number of studies focused on how much can be blended with natural gas and safely moved in pipelines. “We are encouraged that SoCalGas is embarking on a major project that will help make green hydrogen a reality here in Los Angeles,” said Marty Adams, LADWP General Manager. “Developing a source of safe, affordable green hydrogen is key to achieving our clean energy future by 2035, while ensuring reliability.” SoCalGas’s proposal was welcomed not only for helping LA and the state drive down climate emissions but also for its prospects of job creation. “The thought of creating a massive clean, green energy hub in Los Angeles, growing union jobs and preserving the thousands of middle-class jobs for refinery, utility, and electrical workers is exactly the sort of out-of-the-box thinking that this project presents,” said Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Cost recovery sought in a memo account The day before SoCalGas’s announcement about its green hydrogen pipeline, it sought approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to track and recover its costs in a memorandum account. It said including them in its upcoming general rate case would bog down the process and it did not have a plan in place when it filed its 2017 rate case. “Accelerating a shift to clean fuels requires swift action,” its application to the CPUC states. The Utility Reform Network objected, saying SoCal Gas should be required to include the green hydrogen pipeline proposal in its upcoming general rate case or file a separate application. That would ensure “a thorough review of how ‘green’ the hydrogen production truly is and whether the proposed costs are reasonable before money is spent, rather than reviewing the proposal after money has been spent, as would happen in a memo account,” said Mark Toney, TURN executive director. He also called for a set definition of “green hydrogen” and wants to know if residential ratepayers will be on the hook for dedicated hydrogen pipelines used to serve industry. Generally, green hydrogen is produced by splitting off hydrogen from water molecules using renewable power. The three phases of SoCalGas’ green hydrogen Angeles Link are estimated to take up to five and a half years. The first phase, estimated to cost $26 million, would study supply, demand, possible routes, pipeline configuration, and storage possibilities. It is expected to take about a year and a half after a preliminary engineering contract is reached. The next phase is expected to cost about $92 million and take two years. It would entail designing, and developing environmental studies for a proposed transport system. The third phase would involve developing an application to submit to the CPUC for permission to build the project. The cost of this certification process was not tallied, but it was estimated to take about 2 years.

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