New Mexico to be part of ‘Clean Freight Corridor’

Long-haul truckers could soon power up their 18-wheelers with New Mexico-made hydrogen delivered through a vast fuelling network stretching from the Port of Los Angeles to West Texas.

New Mexico-based Libertad Power is partnering with Hyundai Motor Company and nationwide fuelling service Diesel Direct to build a new hydrogen-fuelled “Southwest Clean Freight Corridor” to help decarbonise thousands of heavy-duty, long-haul trucks that crisscross the region every day.

Joe Merlino, managing partner for Libertad Power – which plans to open the state’s first zero-carbon, green-hydrogen production plant near Farmington, NM in 2025 – said: “The network could begin initial operations in about three years.”

The plant would employ electrolysis — a technology that extracts hydrogen from water with no fossil fuels involved — creating clean-burning hydrogen for fuel-cell trucks that Diesel Direct would deliver to customers across the region.

Merlino said: “Our goal is to be in commercial operation by 2025. We’d be looking at producing about 20 to 30 tonnes of hydrogen per day to start. But using electrolyser technology, we have the advantage of building the plant out in modular fashion, so we’d connect more capacity as demand for product grows.

“Libertad expects to power its electrolyser plant with renewable generation from wind and solar farms in New Mexico.”

Over time, Libertad plans to establish two more hydrogen plants to serve the corridor, including a second one near Hobbs in southeast New Mexico and a third plant in Arizona near the California state line.

Diesel Direct, meanwhile, will install hydrogen service centres along the major interstate highways in all four border states, building on the diesel-delivery infrastructure it already operates throughout the Southwest. The Massachusetts-based company, which launched in 1998, currently operates in 46 states, billing itself as the largest mobile fuelling service company in the US.

William McNamara, Diesel Direct president and CEO, said: “It provides 24/7 service from company-run hubs, offering on-site fuelling directly at customer sites to supply diesel for everything from trucking fleets and heavy construction equipment to forklifts, storage tanks and generators.

“We provide fuel where, when and how it’s needed for about 35,000 trucks every day. We operate from coast to coast, including the Southwest markets from Los Angeles to Houston and all parts in between.

“The plan is to extend those same services for hydrogen delivery along the new clean freight corridor, servicing fuel cell-based, heavy-duty vehicles. That means installing new equipment specially designed for hydrogen storage, transport and fuelling.

“We need a different type of tank and different fuel transfer and transport equipment for hydrogen. It will be a significant investment, but we see the Southwest as a great emerging market for hydrogen, with huge opportunities.”

Hyundai — which ranked as the world’s third-largest automaker in sales volume from January-June 2022 — is providing guidance on the technology, infrastructure and operational needs for hydrogen-fuelled trucks. That’s based on direct experience building and operating its own fleet of long-haul fuel cell electric trucks, which to date have racked up 2.67 million fleet miles of driving in real-world conditions in Switzerland.

Benjamin Happek, Hyundai senior manager for commercial vehicle global new business development, said: “Those trucks have demonstrated a maximum driving range of 500 miles.”

The South Korean company is aggressively developing both battery and fuel cell-based electric vehicles. In May, it announced plans to invest $5.4 billion in a new electric vehicle and battery plant to open in Georgia in 2025.

Last year, it invested in Albuquerque-based Pajarito Powder, a start-up that’s developing inexpensive catalyst materials to lower the costs for fuel cells.

Happek said: “Participation in the clean freight corridor reflects Hyundai’s strategy of developing hydrogen mobility ecosystems through cooperation with local partners.”

Duncan McBranch, programme director for LANL’s entrepreneurship for mission innovation, said: “Los Alamos National Laboratory is also providing technical advice. The lab has pioneered fuel cell technology development for decades, starting in the 1970s.

“Trucking is an especially good target for hydrogen. It’s one of the hardest transport sectors to get off fossil fuels.”

That’s because heavy-duty trucks haul huge loads with powerful engines that are hard to fuel for long distances with electric batteries.

Merlino concluded: “Corridor project partners hope to eventually support more than 20,000 commercial fuel cell electric vehicles along Southwest highways. That could include some 12,000 heavy-duty trucks, which, if converted to hydrogen, would displace about 1.5 million tonnes of carbon annually.”

For more information visit www.libertadpower.com