A hydrogen-fueled power plant is being proposed for the site of the toxic Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in the southern Ohio community of Piketon. The Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, an economic development group working with Ohio University and the Texas company Newpoint Gas, hopes the project will produce clean energy and replace some of the jobs lost when the uranium enrichment facility shuttered in 2001. The Texas gas producer has signed a letter of intent to buy the property, which the economic development group owns, the organization said.
The facility would generate 300 megawatts of power, employ at least 500 people, and provide hydrogen needed to manufacture products like cement and ammonia, which have a carbon-heavy production process, said Newpoint Gas CEO Wiley Rhodes. Newpoint Gas will procure hydrogen from natural gas and wants to get the facility online by the beginning of 2027, he said. He noted some details have not been worked out. Economists and environmentalists have questioned the cost-effectiveness of hydrogen power. Critics point to studies suggesting the money needed to procure hydrogen is better spent on solar and wind power.
Hydrogen power produces 20% more emissions than fossil fuels because extracting hydrogen requires so much energy, according to a study from researchers at Stanford and Cornell universities last year. Supporters of hydrogen power dispute the study’s findings. The Midwest Hydrogen Alliance, a coalition of businesses, universities and public agencies, said the research underestimated the effectiveness of carbon capture and overestimated the probability of methane leaks. The Stanford and Cornell researchers have defended their work.
