A facility to develop hydrogen fuel could be coming to Kapolei.
The Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources will consider an application by the Delaware-based Eurus Energy America LLC to build a facility in within Kapolei’s Campbell Industrial Park that would extract hydrogen from water.
The facility, according to a Department of Land and Natural Resources project document, would be constructed on a 100-acre government-owned parcel in Kapolei, directly adjacent to another parcel where the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has proposed to build a desalination plant.
Currently, the lot is owned by the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and is unused, having previously been used as a feedlot. In 2022, DAB discovered tenants had been misusing the property by storing abandoned vehicles and equipment on the site, leading to their eviction. Now, DLNR seeks to take over most of the parcel from DAB for renewable energy development.
About 90 of the 100 acres would house a photovoltaic panel array capable of generating about 20 megawatts of electricity. That energy would then power electrolyzers and other equipment that would strip hydrogen from recycled water via an existing Board of Water Supply pipeline.
The oxygen left behind by the electrolysis process would simply be released into the atmosphere, while the hydrogen would be compressed and loaded onto trucks for transport offsite.
Alternatively, the document also mentions the possibility of transporting hydrogen offsite via a pipeline. However, if that option was pursued, the pipeline would be built and operated by a third party.
The project document estimates that the facility could produce between 500,000 and 800,000 kilograms of hydrogen per year, enough to fuel a semi-truck for up to 7 million miles, according to Department of Energy estimates.
While the document states that the facility could begin operations by late 2027, the project is still in early stages. The facility’s design remains under development, and the BLNR has not yet approved Eurus’ use of the land.
The BLNR will discuss the project at its meeting on Friday, Jan. 9, and may authorize a pair of future public meetings where Eurus representatives will present more information about the project at an undetermined date.
Aloha State Daily reached out to Eurus for comment.
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