Hydrogen Energy California

HECA Information Center Now Open in Buttonwillow, California

heca — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:37:45 +0000

On February 1st, Hydrogen Energy California re-opened its Information Center near the site of the project in the town of Buttonwillow. The center has diagrams, visuals and explanations of how the plan will operate. It is located in the center of Buttonwillow, across the street from the Kern County Sheriff’s substation.

HECA Information Center
189 E. Front Street
Buttonwillow, CA 93205
Tel: (661) 764-6442
Project Info: info@scsenregyllc.com

Mon- Fri from 10:00am to 2:00pm
Or Call for an Appointment

Hydrogen Energy California Targets Wide Range of Holiday Giving Initiatives

heca — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:54:37 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December,15, 2011

Hydrogen Energy California Targets Wide Range

of Holiday Giving Initiatives

BAKERSFIELD, CA – To support Kern County communities, SCS Energy California/Hydrogen Energy California LLC is providing a range of Holiday Giving initiatives.

The company is donating over $12,000 to local programs.

Beneficiaries will be those who enjoy the services of such organizations as the Golden Empire Gleaners, Community Action Partnership of Kern, The Bakersfield Rescue Mission, The Bakersfield Homeless Shelter and the Kern Adult Literacy Council.

In Buttonwillow, a contribution will go to the Healthy Start Collaborative at the Buttonwillow School District. The West Side Community Resource in Taft will also be receiving support.

The proposed Hydrogen Energy California facility (HECA) will be located on the west side of Kern County, near the communities of Taft, Buttonwillow and Tupman.

The HECA project will generate hydrogen-based electricity and reduce greenhouse gases. It combines commercially demonstrated technologies into an integrated facility to generate electricity, manufacture fertilizer for the agriculture industry and capture carbon dioxide to be used for the recovery of crude oil that remains in California’s oil basins.

SCS Energy California is a private power plant development company headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts. The company’s mission is to create high-value power generation assets that bring excellent returns to investors while leading the industry in environmental stewardship and climate change mitigation.

###

SCS Energy Closes Deal to Acquire HECA Project in Kern County

heca — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:19:58 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sept, 28, 2011

CONCORD, Mass. —SCS Energy, one of the nation’s leading independent developers of clean power, announced today it has acquired a project to build a hydrogen-fueled polygeneration plant in Kern County, California.

One of the first of its kind in the world, this project will provide thousands of new construction jobs, permanent manufacturing jobs, and significant economic stimulus to the region.

The project is part of the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI), a cost-shared collaboration between the federal government and private industry to increase investment in low-emission coal technology by demonstrating advanced coal-based power generation technologies at commercial scale. The project will be cost-shared and administered by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

SCS Energy has acquired the Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) Project from BP and Rio Tinto. Private and federal investment to date has brought the project to the advanced permitting stage. SCS Energy is modifying the plant’s design, allowing it to produce both electricity and fertilizer.

Paul Meyers, SCS Energy’s Chief Financial Officer, said, “The combination of the two products, along with the beneficial use of CO2 to enhance nearby oil field production will make the plant cost effective and economical and enable the project to move forward.”

Such polygeneration provides the 400 MW Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant operational flexibility to better match market demand. For instance, the plant will produce more fertilizer in the evening when less electricity is needed which optimizes the economic use of the facility.

The plant will capture 90% of the CO2 produced and transport it to an adjacent oil field where it will be used for enhanced oil recovery and sequestered in deep, underground geological formations, furthering California’s low carbon power policies, adding to domestic oil production, and replacing imported high-carbon fertilizer with domestic low carbon fertilizer.

The project has selected Fluor as its Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor and has also selected the Oxygen-Blown Gasification technology of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Jim Croyle, SCS Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are extraordinarily pleased to be taking over this project. During peak construction we expect to have more than 2,000 workers on site; in addition we will bring 140 much-needed permanent jobs to the local area while furthering significant environmental objectives in low carbon manufacturing and power generation.”

The Department of Energy said it was pleased that SCS Energy has succeeded in acquiring the rights to this project and has agreed to undertake the obligations of the prior sponsors. The Department added it looks forward to working with SCS Energy to continue the development of this important polygeneration facility as a part of the Department’s carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) major demonstration portfolio.

SCS Energy is a private power plant development company headquartered in Concord, Mass. The company’s mission is to create high-value power generation assets that bring excellent returns to investors while leading the industry in environmental stewardship and climate change mitigation. Its award winning 1100 MW power plant development in New York City helped stabilize the grid by solving a load pocket problem in Queens while helping to establish the use of air cooled condensing for power plants in New York.

For more information please Contact Bob Rawitch by:

Email at info@scsenergyllc.com or

Phone: (213) 248-5014

You may also visit our website at www.hydrogenenergycalifornia.com

SCS Energy agrees to take over HECA and to move project forward

heca — Mon, 23 May 2011 19:09:25 +0000

Hydrogen Energy California

May 23, 2011

SCS Energy agrees to take over HECA and to move project forward

SCS Energy, an independent power producer involved in clean power projects nationally, has executed a conditional agreement to take over Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) and to move a modified power project forward through permitting, construction and operation.

Earlier this year, HECA’s original investors — BP and Rio Tinto — entered into discussions with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to seek ways to sustain the project upon their exit by replacing their investment. These efforts resulted in SCS Energy proposing a viable solution that will enable the continued feasibility of the project.

BP and Rio Tinto had invested $55 million each to lay the groundwork for HECA’s feasibility. “Both companies are pleased to see SCS Energy develop the project in a way that will create value for its core business,” according to Jonathan Briggs of HECA.

DOE has invested $54 million in the project under a financial assistance agreement with HECA; these funds were provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. DOE is working with BP, Rio Tinto and SCS Energy to build on this investment and ensure HECA can access the remaining $354 million in financial assistance under HECA’s Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI-3) award.

The HECA project is in an advanced permitting stage and has strong support from numerous communities nearby the project’s location.

SCS Energy intends to use a design that has been several years in development to add polygeneration capabilities to the HECA project. This modification to the project allows integration of electricity generation, greenhouse gas sequestration, and urea production in a way that would allow the plant to use the hydrogen generated from fossil fuel to generate electricity, urea or both depending on market demand. Urea is widely used in fertilizers for agriculture.

Also, the plant still will capture 90% percent of the CO2 produced and transport it to an adjacent oil field where it will be used for enhanced oil recovery and sequestration in deep underground geological formations.

The approach of producing both electricity and urea helps address the economic challenge of creating a viable business model to cover the high capital costs of the plant and its carbon capture capabilities.

Strong community and regulatory support for project

HECA has benefited from strong support from local communities where the project would be built. The case for building the project in Kern County was upheld by local and state experts and the many community leaders that supported the environmental benefit and economic development potential of the project.

DOE selected the project for a significant award of financial assistance because it has great potential to demonstrate the commercial viability of solid-fuel based low-carbon power plants using CCS.

The California Public Utilities Commission also supported the project by approving Southern California Edison’s application to expend up to $30 million to study the feasibility of the project for California ratepayers.

About SCS Energy

SCS Energy is a private power plant development company headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts. The company’s mission is to create high-value power generation assets that bring excellent returns to investors while leading the industry in environmental stewardship and climate change mitigation.

For more information, see SCS Energy.

Project description

HECA is designed to be one of the world’s first hydrogen-fueled power plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS). It will transform solid fossil fuels into clean hydrogen, which will fuel turbine generators, producing clean, low-carbon electricity.

At the same time, the plant will capture 90% of the carbon dioxide produced, selling it to a nearby oil field operator that will use it for enhanced oil recovery.

Under new investor SCS Energy, the plant will be redesigned so that the hydrogen produced can be used either to power an electrical generator or as a feedstock for creation of urea, a valued organic compound.

Project status

Location: The HECA project completed its land purchase for the plant site and also received preliminary county approval on its required cancellation of the Williamson Act contract.

Power Plant Siting: HECA has continued to achieve its regulatory milestones in the permitting process with the California Energy Commission (CEC), including issuance of the Preliminary Staff Assessment (PSA) Part 1, completing CEC Data Requests Round 4, and pursuing issuance of PSA Part 2.

Air Quality Permitting: HECA has received a Final Determination of Compliance (FDOC) from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District for its required air permit. And, HECA has continued to work through federal air quality permit filings with the Environmental Protection Agency.

CO2 Off-take: Oxy of Elk Hills has submitted documentation to the relevant agency for the project’s CO2 to be used for Oxy’s injection into the Elk Hills Reservoir adjacent to the HECA site in Kern County.

Water: HECA has completed negotiations on its water contract with Buena Vista Water District.

Engineering: HECA has continued to progress its technical definitions in its Front End Engineering & Design (FEED) phase.

Additional information

More information on the HECA project can be found on the website at www.HECA.com

Contact Tiffany Rau, HECA Policy and Communications Manager, for additional information.

email: tiffany.rau@hydrogenenergy.com

phone: 562-276-1510

Article: CA State Senator Floats Bill Requiring Carbon Sequestration Regulatory Framework

heca — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:30:15 +0000

CA State Senator Floats Bill Requiring Carbon Sequestration Regulatory Framework (From: http://insideepa.com/)

(Feb 25 2011) A state senator has introduced a “spot” bill that would require the state to establish a set of regulations for the permitting and operation of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects, which in part responds to industry complaints that current state statute is limited and confusing and may be delaying projects.

CCS is considered critical to achieving long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, because it could substantially reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from a variety of facilities, including power plants and refineries.

The bill, SB 669 by Sen. Michael Rubio (D-East Bakersfield), does not yet contain any details about what the regulations would entail or which state agencies would be involved. “This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing a regulatory framework for the permitting and operation of carbon capture and geologic storage projects,” the bill states. The measure is sponsored by the California CCS Coalition, whose members include Aera Energy, Chevron, Clean Energy Systems, Hydrogen Energy California, Sempra Energy Utilities, Southern California Edison, Shell and the Western States Petroleum Association, according to the group’s website.

There are several proposed CCS projects in the state, including a project by Hydrogen Energy California that intends to sequester 90% of its GHG emissions, which would be created by the processing of petroleum coke and coal into hydrogen to generate electricity. Representatives of this project for the past two years have complained that California’s lack of a clear regulatory framework for CCS projects is hindering advancement of their facility.

One of the problems is that there currently is no clear delegation to a state agency of regulatory authority for CCS projects, officials acknowledge. Further, state statute does not cover important issues related to CCS projects, such as long-term liability and air monitoring, reporting and verification. As a result, state officials are struggling to determine if they can legally permit the projects under current statute.

A source with the California CCS Coalition said members of the group are currently working with key stakeholders to draft the details of the bill, which are expected to soon be reflected in amendments.

Employee Holiday Giving program helps over 30 West Kern County residents

heca — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:45:27 +0000

This holiday season Hydrogen Energy employees and contractors purchased thousands of dollars of gifts that were donated to over 32 members of 5 families in Tupman and Buttonwillow California. Gifts ranged from warm clothes and blankets to toys and sports equipment. The families were identified on a need basis by the Elk Hills School and the Buttonwillow School Healthy Start program. “This program gave employees a chance to give back in a personal way to community members in need” said Jessica Brown a company representative at the HECA information center.

Some of the presents donated by HECA employees to the local community.

HECA granted Final Determination of Compliance for its air permit

heca — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:16:36 +0000

On December 16^th 2010 the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) issued the Final Determination of Compliance (FDOC) to Hydrogen Energy California’s proposed power generation facility in California. The SJVAPCD has concluded that the project meets all applicable air quality standards and requirements. The FDOC includes conditions necessary to ensure compliance with applicable air quality requirements. It will be submitted to the California Energy Commission, which is the lead agency conducting the CEQA environmental review.

The FDOC is functionally equivalent to an Authority to Construct and provides the same rights and privileges once the California Energy Commission approves Hydrogen Energy California’s Application for Certification (AFC) and issues its Certification. The CEC Certification will include all of the conditions of the FDOC. After the CEC issues its Certification, the SJVAPCD will issue a Permit to Operate containing all of the conditions of the FDOC for the Hydrogen Energy California power project.

For the full HECA FDOC from the SJVAPCD website click here

Community Giving Winter 2010 $30,000 to local programs

heca — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:39:47 +0000

Hydrogen Energy California Delivers $30,000 to West Kern County Community Programs for the Winter of 2010-2011

Long Beach, CA – As part of Hydrogen Energy California’s tri-annual community giving program that supports Kern County communities, HECA is funding several programs and initiatives aimed at quality of life in West Kern County.

The beneficiaries include the Community Park Initiative in Tupman linked to the Elk Hills School, field trip grants for the Buttonwillow School, funding for Holiday programs at the Buttonwillow Parks and Recreation center and several other educational and social projects.

On the ground these investments will help Tupman move towards the construction of their first community Park, help Buttonwillow School finance field trips and organizations such as the Kern Adult Literary Council in both of these towns run programs.

HECA Newsletter Winter 2010

heca — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:55:04 +0000

Please read our latest newsletter by clicking here to read more about:

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s preliminary determination that the proposed Hydrogen Energy California facility meets all local air quality regulations.

The California Energy Commission’s early evaluation of the HECA project finding that the 250-MW power plant planned for western Kern County would comply with all applicable laws, ordinances, regulations and standards and would not have significant adverse environmental impacts on the areas studied.

HECA’s peaking engagement at the California State University Bakersfield second Expert Workshop on Carbon Capture Storage where local and national experts discussed the deployment of CCS.

HECA’s recent coverage in a New York Times article and a Bakersfeild Californian op-Ed that discussed the environmental and economic benefits of the HECA CCS project in California.

The project team’s continued actions in the Community through sponsorship of academic and social events in Kern County.

How does hydrogen power generation compare to renewable energy sources such as wind?

fluxar — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:15:35 +0000

The HECA power plant will generate clean low carbon electricity by transforming fossil fuels into clean burning hydrogen that provides reliable power to the grid nearly 24h a day 7 days a week regardless whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shinning. Typically renewables, such as wind and solar, produce electricity only one third of the time. So although renewables provide an important form of clean energy they are intermittent.

We believe hydrogen power and renewables are complementary in the sense that both deliver cleaner energy and both are needed to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.