Air Products pulls out of green hydrogen JV project in Texas

US industrial gases company Air Products (NYSE:APD) has given up on a USD-4.5-billion (EUR 4.2bn) green hydrogen joint venture project in Texas and has sold the development rights to its partner in the project, according to the company’s quarterly results presentation.

The project, announced in late 2022, was a joint venture with The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES).

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Air Products said last week that the project never reached final investment decision (FID). The company is not moving forward with it as it does not meet its established guidelines for new, low-carbon projects.

“[The project] did not meet our criteria, which was that we do not make final investment decision until we have an anchor customer and until we have loaded 75% of our existing facilities," chief executive Seifi Ghasemi explained.

In addition, Air Products put a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project in California on hold until permits are secured.

The company is progressing with the Neom green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia, as well as its Canada Net-Zero Hydrogen Energy Project and a Louisiana blue hydrogen project, which has been submitted for permits.

“Other than Neom, where most of the engineering is basically done, we are working on engineering on our project in Louisiana and one or two other projects in Texas and our Edmonton project. Other than that, we are not working on any other major project,” the CEO said.

While the hydrogen sector has recently seen progress on final investment decisions, there have also been project cancellations, with companies citing slower than expected development of the hydrogen market.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.928)