The HECA project is co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) under its Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI-Round 3).

SCS Energy California LLC (SCS), which took over the project and its site in western Kern County from prior owners, said the action will create thousands of construction and permanent jobs, is a major step to promote clean energy and will advance California’s long term climate strategy.

The filing resumes a comprehensive regulatory review process which, upon approval, would grant permission for construction and operation of one of the world’s first hydrogen powered plants with carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).  The May 2 submission highlights SCS’s commitment to HECA and the aggressive work performed by the team since the Department of Energy approved SCS to take over the development of this important project for converting fossil fuels into clean power and the production of low carbon products.

HECA is an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle project that will manufacture hydrogen to be used to generate nearly 300 megawatts of low-carbon electricity and to produce low-carbon nitrogen based products, such as fertilizers. The products and power produced by the project have a lower carbon footprint than similar products produced from the combustion of fossil fuels, including natural gas. This low-carbon footprint is accomplished by capturing more than 90 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO₂).  CO2 will be transported for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the adjacent Elk Hills Oil Field (EHOF) owned and operated by Occidental of Elk Hills, Inc. (OEHI).

The project provides multiple benefits:  it furthers California’s low carbon power policies, adds to domestic oil production, and replaces imported high-carbon footprint fertilizer with domestic low carbon footprint fertilizer.

Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, has said:

“They have developed an innovative business model that improves the economic viability of the project. HECA intends to ramp up the facility to produce more electricity during peak hours of need in order to maximize the energy and capacity value of the plant. This is an example of the kind of creative thinking we will need to solve the climate crisis.”

HECA has been an important public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. Project development is supported in part by a $408 million grant that was competitively awarded to HECA in recognition of the project’s importance in demonstrating critical carbon capture and enhanced oil recovery technology at a commercial scale.

“The HECA project underscores the significance of CCUS – the creative combination of business drivers and environmental responsibility.  It demonstrates how carbon capture technology will help us fully develop and use our vast domestic energy resources in a sustainable way.  And by utilizing the captured CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery, the project provides significant economic and job creation benefits” said Chuck McConnell, DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy.

Since acquiring the project, SCS has modified the former HECA design to improve its economic viability and better serve market needs, while continuing to adhere to the strictest environmental standards.  In addition, HECA has selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ oxygen-blown dry feed gasification technology as a key component of the project. The Project will gasify a blend of coal and petroleum coke to produce hydrogen-rich gas.  Because the project has new and improved features from the original HECA design, the project team developed and submitted an amended permit application for regulatory review.

About SCS Energy California LLC (SCS)

SCS is a private power plant development company headquartered inConcord,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.  With Hydrogen Energy California, our business is converting fossil fuels to hydrogen and using the hydrogen fuel in the most economically efficient and environmentally beneficial manner.

For more information on the HECA project, please visit www.heca.com

Contact:

info@heca.com

April 19, 2012 Meeting             

Ed Western took to the podium and introduced our guest speaker, Jim Croyle.

Jim, CEO of SCS Energy, the parent company of Hydrogen Energy of California (HECA), educated us about the hydrogen project located two miles north of Tupman. Jim explained that hydrogen energy will transform yesterday’s power plant into tomorrow’s polygeneration complex. This project will provide solutions to the world’s future needs for low carbon power, clean hydrogen gas and cleaner and more efficient manufacturing of agricultural and industrial products. In addition, Jim explained how

this innovation in hydrogen energy will help produce new transportation fuels and increase domestic oil production. HECA’s facility in Tupman will convert coal and petroleum coke to hydrogen to generate electricity, manufacture fertilizer and capture

carbon dioxide to expand the recovery of crude oil that remains in California’s oil basins. HECA’s process preserves fresh water for agriculture, while utilizing non-potable water in its production process.

The main benefits of the HECA project are:

it will add an estimated 2500 new jobs to our county

it will bring over $2 billion of economic activity to our area

it will produce millions of dollars in sales and property tax revenue

it will provide low-carbon electricity to about 150,000 homes

Jim fielded a few questions from our club members, and President Tracy brought our meeting to a close at 1:19 PM.

On March 21, the 12^th Annual Kern County Economic Summit took place in Bakersfield, California.  Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) was a Gold Sponsor of the annual event that attracted over 400 business leaders, government officials, and community leaders.

Each year the summit features economists and business leaders who provide information to educate and broaden perspectives of international, national, regional, and, most importantly. the local economy.  Hydrogen Energy California will be a major player in the economy with its Combined Cycle Power Plant and Fertilizer Manufacturing Plant   Following needed government agency approvals in about 2013, and approximately three years of construction, the facility should be operating in 2017.

The summit program featured the economic development and jobs benefits that HECA would bring to Kern County and the state of California. This will include over $2 billion to the local economy and 2,200 jobs during construction as well as $269 million in annual local economic output and approximately 170 permanent jobs when the facility begins operations.

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

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

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.

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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

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

 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.

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

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