(Pasadena, California/USA) – The US-based Heliogen, Inc. has leased land in the Brenda Solar Energy Zone (SEZ) to build a plant to produce green hydrogen. The company estimates its annual production capacity at around 20.000 tons. 
The property is located in La Paz County, Arizona, on the California border. It is part of the administrative assets of the Bureau of Land Management, an agency under the US Department of the Interior that is responsible for the economic exploitation of public land in the United States
The site reportedly has direct access to the Interstate 10 highway network for distributing hydrogen to nearby natural gas pipelines, as well as to the Phoenix metropolitan area and the Port of Los Angeles, a four-hour drive away. The Brenda SEZ is “an ideal location for the production of green hydrogen on a commercial scale because of the abundance of water and proximity to potential buyers and important sales channels,” said Heliogen CEO Bill Gross.
With CSP to green hydrogen
The company is active in the concentrated solar power (CSP) business. Energy is generated using solar thermal power plants. Depending on the technology, collectors installed over a large area, such as heliostats or parabolic troughs, transfer the incident solar radiation to a heat exchanger (receiver), which heats a heat transfer medium. Depending on the concentration level, design and location of the system, temperatures of 500 to more than 1.000 degrees Celsius can be achieved. This allows steam, electricity and heat to be generated and stored in a power plant.
Demonstration project completed
Heliogen and California-based Bloom Energy Corp. According to the information, they have already produced green hydrogen in a joint demonstration project in Lancaster, California, which was completed in November 2021. In combination with Bloom Energy's high-temperature solid oxide electrolyzer, hydrogen can be produced 45 percent more efficiently than with low-temperature polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) and alkaline electrolyzers.
“Almost 80 percent of the cost of electrolytically produced hydrogen comes from electricity, and because less electricity is used, hydrogen production is more economical,” it said in a statement. In addition, “the possibility of using heat – a much cheaper energy source than electricity – improves the economics of green hydrogen production.”
In December 2021, Heliogen announced its merger with Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. The combined company has since been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the name Heliogen Inc.
Class schedule
Rendering of a CSP tower power plant. © Heliogen
Photo below
The Brenda Solar Energy Zone is undeveloped and rural, with few residents. Several dirt roads traverse the SEZ, and there is a corral and well on the western edge. The BLM has permitted grazing in one part. © BLM
