Hydrogen facility proposed in west Kern would run on solar power, wastewater
Three elements prevalent at Kern County oil production sites — wastewater, photovoltaic solar arrays and available space — may come together before long to create renewable fuel for California’s nascent hydrogen fuel cell market.
A commercial project being proposed in Lost Hills by Chevron Corp.’s renewable energy division would create 2 tons of hydrogen per day by applying electrolysis to oil-field produced water hauled in from company operations elsewhere in the county. The electricity required would come from a solar farm already powering oil production at the site.
Still years from construction, the proposal is considered an early version of a model Chevron says it would like to scale up to produce more than 30 tons of hydrogen per day, assuming the technology becomes more efficient, the fuel receives support from policymakers and hydrogen catches on with more California motorists.
“We’re going to need to see the market continue to develop so that we have confidence to make that into a larger project,” said Michael Hoban, general manager for hydrogen at Chevron New Energies, which the San Ramon-based oil major has tasked with exploring new, lower-carbon lines of business.
Hydrogen is considered a promising transportation fuel source as California works toward carbon neutrality by 2045. Already an estimated 14,000 people drive hydrogen fuel cell vehicles statewide.
The automobiles get 250 miles or more per tank, produce no harmful emissions and take three to five minutes to refuel — a lot less than electric vehicles need to recharge.
Industry figures show that sales of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
increased from 31 nationwide in 2014 to more than 100 times that many in 2021. Expectations are that box trucks, delivery vans and even tractor-trailers will eventually increase demand for hydrogen fuel.
So far, the state’s 55 hydrogen fueling stations are concentrated in urban areas. Developers including Chevron are planning 108 more retail stations in California.
It’s unclear whether western Kern could become home to a large hydrogen production facility, of the kind Chevron is planning, unless technology advances significantly. That’s because the water required has to meet certain minimum quality standards, and as it stands, the project would run on a blend of produced water including the relatively clean source of Chevron’s Kern River Oil Field dozens of miles to the east.
Even so, Hoban said western Kern has the fundamentals required: access to water, land for construction and a connection to low-carbon power.
“To do this elsewhere you need to have all those same fundamentals,” he said.
A big reason the Lost Hills site makes sense is the 29-megawatt, 220-acre solar array Chevron uses to keep its pumps moving, treat its wastewater and run the buildings. The photovoltaic installation produces at least 5 megawatts more power than the oil operation needs, and that electricity would be connected to the electrolyzer, to be located within an existing building at the site.
Hydrogen produced in Lost Hills would be compressed on-site and loaded onto what’s called a tube trailer.
The idea of hydrogen production in western Kern has been mentioned previously, though the only other active proposal would run on natural gas in Elk Hills.
Separately, a clean energy park that county government has conceptually proposed for the area would include what’s called green hydrogen, produced with only renewable power. Other possible activities include carbon management and possibly a so-called green steel plant, all of which would be powered by photovoltaic solar nearby.
Hoban offered no specific timetable for the Lost Hills project, saying that although Chevron hopes to move as quickly as possible, permitting and construction will likely take years.
Director Lorelei Oviatt of the county Planning and Natural Resources Department noted Chevron’s project would require a conditional use permit and environmental impact review as part of a full public process. She offered no comment ahead of that process.
Hoban noted hydrogen’s future as a future transportation fuel in California will ultimately depend on how well it measures up against other low-carbon fuels.
“It depends on how competitive other solutions are that are on the market,” he said.