SoCalGas seeks to create the nation’s largest hydrogen power system for LA – Orange County Register

SoCalGas on Thursday, February 17th released details of its proposed “Angeles Link” project to create what the utility says will be the largest hydrogen energy infrastructure system yet. in the United States.

The utility, which supplies gas to about 22 million customers across Central and Southern California, said the project – which was submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday – could replace up to 3 million gallons diesel fuel per day, removing up to 25,000 tons of smoke-generating nitrogen oxides per year and providing a clean fuel to convert up to four natural gas power plants into green hydrogen.

“The climate challenges we face require solutions of scale and urgency. Link Angeles is designed to meet live challenges,” said Scott Drury, CEO of SoCalGas.

“Today in Southern California, we announce plans for one of the largest clean energy infrastructure systems in the world, to help tackle emissions with no easy answers. Those emissions – from power plants, industry and heavy trucks – are substantial and must be reduced significantly to meet our and state’s climate goals,” Drury continued.

However, Food & Water Watch Los Angeles environmentalists criticized SoCalGas for advertising the project as “green”, replying that hydrogen requires 9 kg of water for every 1 kg of hydrogen generated and the area The region is in the midst of a Super Drought that a UCLA study said Tuesday is the most severe in at least 1,200 years. The group added that hydrogen development has the potential to sustain fossil fuel infrastructure.

“Californias are not blind to SoCalGas profiteering,” said the group’s director Alexandra Nagy. “Time and time again SoCalGas has demonstrated its willingness to destroy our climate and health while raising prices to profit by any means necessary. We would be foolish to let SoCalGas sell us on schemes like green hydrogen that divert us from real energy solutions and take over our water resources. ”

Gov Gavin Newsom said he was made aware of the plan while speaking at a media event in Fontana, but called it “a step in the right direction” and added “we need to see more of it.”

Newsom said the state will focus on green hydrogen in the coming months, especially when it comes to heavy industry.

Governor says SoCalGas proposal won’t change his mind about need to close Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Facility in the San Fernando Valley, the site of the nation’s largest gas leak in 2015.

The storage facility near Porter Ranch spewed more than 100,000 tons of methane and other chemicals into the air, resulting in the largest natural gas release in the nation’s history. The gas leak, first detected in October 2015 and lasting about four months, exposed people to a range of chemicals, including benzene, which can cause cancer and harm the ecosystem. produce.

Since the explosion, neighbors, activists and elected officials have called for the facility to be closed. However, the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, voted unanimously last year to increase the capacity of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility after SoCalGas said it needed to expand to keep energy prices down. steady before the winter months.

Newsom said the proposal will be presented to the CPUC on Tuesday, and he plans to study it in the meantime.

“We want to move forward with closing the Aliso Canyon,” he said on Thursday. “Actually, I expressed my disappointment that it didn’t happen fast enough. So I hope that this will boost that effort. ”

Under the proposal, SoCalGas’ hydrogen system would support the integration of solar and wind energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity, industrial processes, heavy trucks and other hard-to-power sectors of the industry. economy, according to SoCalGas.

The green hydrogen supply will be about 25% of the natural gas that SoCalGas is supplying, the utility said.