In Sept. 2001, Chevron Corp. was announced as one of the partners in the massive Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) project near Delta. But less than a year later, the oil and gas giant pulled out in order to explore other options “as we work to achieve our lower carbon goals and grow our lower carbon businesses.”
Now Chevron is back in the ownership mix in a big way. Chevron New Energies has acquired 100 percent of Magnum Development LLC from Haddington Ventures, a Houston-based private equity firm, the firm announced recently. The transaction gives Chevron a 78 percent stake in ACES in partnership with Mitsubishi Power Americas LLC. The joint venture is dubbed ACES Delta LLC.
ACES is expected to be the world’s largest hydrogen production and storage facility. The project will store hydrogen made from renewable energy in two giant salt caverns and dispatch it to specialized turbines to generate power when most needed. The site will initially provide more than 300 gigawatt-hours of clean energy to the U.S. West and help stabilize the grid when wind and solar generation dip. ACES secured a $504 million loan from the Department of Energy last year and is currently in development, with completion scheduled for the middle of 2025.
“We seek to leverage the unique strengths of each partner to develop a large-scale, hydrogen platform that provides affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy and helps our customers achieve their lower carbon goals,” said Austin Knight, vice president-hydrogen at Chevron New Energies.
“The addition of Chevron to ACES Delta is further evidence that partnership and commitment from a diverse group of experts and leaders are beneficial to the industry’s continued pursuit of decarbonization solutions,” said Michael Ducker, senior vice president of hydrogen infrastructure for Mitsubishi Power. “This project is a bellwether for the industry and serves as a model for future innovative clean energy projects. We welcome Chevron and look forward to working together.”
Chevron’s purchase price for Magnum Development was not disclosed.