Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and Bloom Energy on Tuesday (Dec. 14) announced a hydrogen blending pilot project envisioned for the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) campus in Pasadena.
The companies said they plan to generate and then blend hydrogen into Caltech’s existing natural gas network “to demonstrate how the natural gas infrastructure can be decarbonized, while balancing future energy supply and demand.”
The project is set to launch next year. Los Angeles-based SoCalGas is the largest natural gas utility in the United States, while Bloom Energy is a fuel cell and microgrid services provider.
“California has ambitious climate goals and a successful energy transition will require companies to collaborate and implement innovative projects,” said California State Assembly member Chris Holden. “This unique demonstration could help our state transition to a carbon neutral future.”
SoCalGas President Maryam Brown said, “We need to pursue a diverse set of decarbonization levers. Projects like this expand and accelerate clean fuel initiatives, which will help decarbonize California faster.”
The companies said they would use Bloom’s solid oxide, high temperature electrolyzer to generate hydrogen, which then will be injected into Caltech’s natural gas infrastructure.
The resulting 10% hydrogen blend will be converted into electricity without combustion through existing Bloom Energy fuel cells downstream of the SoCalGas meter, producing electricity for a portion of the university, the firms said. For the purpose of this project, the electrolyzer is designed to generate hydrogen from grid electricity, meaning it will not be classified as green or blue.
The electrolyzer, however, is designed to produce green hydrogen from 100% renewable sources, the companies said.
“At scale, the electrolyzer and fuel cell combination could enable long duration clean energy storage and low-carbon distributed power generation through the gas network for businesses, residential neighborhoods and dense urban areas,” they said. “When configured as a microgrid, it could also provide resilient power when and where energy is needed most, protecting businesses, campuses or neighborhoods from widespread power outages.”
Bloom said that its high-temperature electrolyzer produces hydrogen more efficiently than low-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane and alkaline electrolyzers. Since it operates at high temperatures, the Bloom electrolyzer requires less energy to break up water molecules and produce hydrogen, the company said. They noted that electricity accounts for 80% of the cost of producing hydrogen from electrolysis.
“By using less electricity, hydrogen production becomes more economical and will accelerate adoption,” Bloom said.
The firms also highlighted a new study by SoCalGas showing the critical role that clean fuels such as hydrogen and renewable natural gas can play in helping California achieve a 100% carbon-neutral economy by 2045.
SoCalGas is currently engaged in more than 10 pilot projects related to hydrogen. The utility also is evaluating the potential for transporting hydrogen through its existing infrastructure, and working with other gas utilities in the state and research institutions to develop a hydrogen blending standard for regulatory review, the firm said.
