BayoTech, New Mexico Gas to build hydrogen production facility

New Mexico Gas Co. Inc. and BayoTech Inc. said Dec. 3 that they will build a production facility in Albuquerque to provide hydrogen.

BayoTech, a private, Albuquerque-based company incorporated in 2015, develops and manufactures hydrogen generation systems and other equipment. New Mexico Gas, a subsidiary of Emera Inc. of Canada, serves 540,000 residential and business customers as a natural gas utility in the state.

The production hub, located at a New Mexico Gas facility, will be the first in a planned network of distributed hydrogen production hubs in the U.S. and U.K., BayoTech said.

The companies expect the site to become operational next year. A unit will produce up to 1,000 kilograms per day of "high-purity hydrogen, enough to fill as many as 200 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles," a news release said. As the market accelerates, the site could produce 5 tonnes of hydrogen per day.

Hydrogen injected into New Mexico Gas pipelines could be used by end users for power, heat and cooking, according to the announcement.

"Today, most hydrogen is produced at a few centralized production plants for supply directly to refiners and chemical manufacturers," the news release said. "For customers in other regions, hydrogen must be liquified and trucked long distances, increasing its costs and carbon footprint."

BayoTech said its project will include proprietary high-pressure gas and transportation and storage equipment that can hold three times more hydrogen per trip than traditional equipment, reducing costs.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was quoted in the news release as saying the investment will help the state move toward net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.