Grant will help fund green hydrogen plan

TAOS — Kit Carson Electric Cooperative is set to receive a $500,000 grant to help fund the Questa Green Hydrogen Project, which will be designed to repurpose reclaimed water from the shuttered Chevron molybdenum mine.

The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy through a congressional spending request championed by U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. The funding comes as part of the approved Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill.

“This is truly a big idea for a small community with big needs,” said Kit Carson CEO Luis Reyes. “KCEC is extremely grateful to ... Sens. Luján and Heinrich and the U.S. Department of Energy for supporting our pursuit of innovative solutions to better our communities.”

The Questa Green Hydrogen Project is also aimed at replacing jobs lost when the molybdenum mine closed in 2014 and creating a positive economic impact for Questa and its surrounding communities.

Hydrogen is a carbon-free energy carrier that can be stored at scale for days or months. This longer-term power storage can help meet electricity demands during periods of low sun or wind resources or adverse events like wildfires. It could also be beneficial for powering vehicles.

Energy from new local KCEC solar arrays will power a process known as “electrolysis,” which involves separating the hydrogen in the water molecules and “creating a clean power end-to-end process,” according to a news release from the co-op.

This story first appeared in

Taos News, a sister publication of The Santa Fe New Mexican.