Air Liquide Inaugurates in the U.S. Its Largest Liquid Hydrogen Production Facility in the World

May 24, 2022 09:34 AM Eastern Daylight Time HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Air Liquide officially opened its largest liquid hydrogen production and logistics infrastructure facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The facility aims to supply the growing needs for hydrogen mobility, but will also allow providing hydrogen to a wide array of industries while the mobility market continues to mature.

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The facility, and the associated logistics infrastructure, marks a $250 million investment by Air Liquide in the United States hydrogen market and will position Nevada as a leader in hydrogen energy production. Air Liquide's investment created jobs for 700 contractors and 25 full-time jobs with the plant at full capacity. With this facility, Air Liquide also developed the infrastructure necessary to attract other companies to move into the area, creating additional jobs and new revenue for the city of North Las Vegas and the state of Nevada.

The North Las Vegas facility will produce 30 tonnes of liquid hydrogen per day which will be utilized by various customers, notably by those in the growing clean mobility market on the West Coast, especially California. The facility will be powered by fully renewable electricity. The facility can also use renewable natural gas to meet the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) when supplying the California mobility market. In this context, the facility can provide enough renewable hydrogen for over 40,000 fuel cell vehicles in California. This will significantly improve the hydrogen supply for mobility, a critical enabler for market growth. While the clean mobility market continues to mature, the plant configuration will also allow for the sale of hydrogen to a wide array of sectors with a range of renewable and low-carbon options for customers.

Air Liquide executives and employees were joined by local, state, and federal leaders for the event, including Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-4), North Las Vegas Mayor John J. Lee, with a special recorded welcome message from U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), who visited the facility earlier in the month.

In alignment with Air Liquide's Sustainability Objectives, the North Las Vegas liquid hydrogen production facility aims to accelerate hydrogen development and contribute to the Group's goal of at least tripling hydrogen sales in order to reach 6 billion euros, or nearly $6.5 billion USD, by 2035.

Michael Graff, Chairman & CEO of American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. and Executive Vice President, Air Liquide Group said: 'Air Liquide has supported the clean mobility market on the West Coast since its infancy and the North Las Vegas facility is a milestone in our decades-long leadership of the U.S. hydrogen market. This facility is an illustration of our commitment, and ability, to usher sustainable markets into the future, while creating jobs and fostering economic growth in the present. By providing a reliable supply of hydrogen to California's mobility market and the region's industrial customers, we are making a significant investment in the transition towards a more sustainable future, one with hydrogen at its core.'

¹ California mobility market and the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) - The LCFS is a California state regulation designed to encourage the use of cleaner low-carbon transportation fuels in California, encourage the production of those fuels, and therefore, reduce GHG emissions and decrease petroleum dependence in the transportation sector.

Air Liquide's commitment to hydrogen

In full support of the 2015 Paris agreement, the Air Liquide commitments address the urgency of climate change and energy transition, targeting carbon neutrality by 2050. As a pioneer in hydrogen, the Group is convinced that hydrogen is a cornerstone of the energy transition. In the past 50 years, the Group has developed unique expertise enabling it to master the entire supply chain, from production and storage to distribution, contributing to the widespread use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier for a wide range of applications such as industrial usages and clean mobility. Air Liquide is committed to reaching several goals, investing approximately 8 billion Euro in the low-carbon hydrogen full value chain by 2035, and a total of 3 GW electrolysis capacity by 2030.

Air Liquide in the U.S.

Air Liquide employs more than 20,000 people in the U.S. in more than 1,300 locations and plant facilities including a world-class R&D center. The company offers industrial and medical gases, technologies and related services to a wide range of customers in energy, petrochemical, industrial, electronics and healthcare markets. www.airliquide.com/USA

A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 75 countries with approximately 66,400 employees and serves more than 3.8 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide's scientific territory and have been at the core of the company's activities since its creation in 1902.

Taking action today while preparing the future is at the heart of Air Liquide's strategy. With ADVANCE, its strategic plan for 2025, Air Liquide is targeting a global performance, combining financial and extra-financial dimensions. Positioned on new markets, the Group benefits from major assets such as its business model combining resilience and strength, its ability to innovate and its technological expertise. The Group develops solutions contributing to climate and the energy transition—particularly with hydrogen—and takes action to progress in areas of healthcare, digital and high technologies.

Air Liquide's revenue amounted to more than 23 billion euros in 2021. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, CAC 40 ESG, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes.

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