Leading international law firm Clifford Chance advised the US Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (DOE LPO) on a US$504.4 million loan guarantee for the Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project, an innovative clean hydrogen production and storage facility capable of providing long-term seasonal energy storage.
Advanced Clean Energy Storage in Delta, Utah, will be the largest clean hydrogen storage facility in the world, and it will allow the Intermountain Power Agency to replace an existing coal-fired power plant with hybrid combined cycle gas turbines capable of operating on hydrogen fuel. Advanced Clean Energy Storage will convert excess renewable energy to hydrogen via alkaline electrolysis that can be stored in salt caverns until needed by the Intermountain Power Agency’s converted IPP Renewed Project.
The IPP Renewed Project is expected to become operational in 2025 when the existing coal-fired generating units will be shut down and the combined cycle gas turbines will operate on a 30% blended fuel provided by Advanced Clean Energy Storage. The IPP Renewed Project will use increasing amounts of hydrogen as feedstock, with the aim of transitioning to 100% hydrogen by 2045.
Senior counsel and co-head of the firm's Americas Energy & Infrastructure Group, David Evans, counsel Peter Hughes, senior associate Greg Jehle, and associate Daniel Justus led the Clifford Chance team advising DOE LPO on the transaction. They were supported on construction matters by London-based partner Edward Bretherton and senior associate Simon Smith; and on financing matters by senior counsel Catherine McCarthy, associates Lauran Smith and Jenny Ahn, lawyer Laura Marriott, law clerk Juan Pablo Avila and paralegal Laura Cabrera. Salt Lake City-based law firm Parr Brown Gee & Loveless also worked with the Clifford Chance team and provided Utah law advice on the transaction to DOE LPO.
Evans said, "We are extremely proud to have advised DOE LPO on this key project to help demonstrate the potential of clean hydrogen for future energy projects. Our work on an innovative clean hydrogen project strengthens Clifford Chance's credentials as a leader in transactions accelerating the energy transition."
Partner and leader of the firm's global Clean Hydrogen Taskforce Anthony Giustini added, "This transaction is an early mover milestone as it emphasizes the crucial role that large-scale storage will play in promoting clean H2 as an important part of de-carbonizing the economy."
This work continues Clifford Chance's extensive record in energy transition transactions, including recently advising Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) on acquiring US$110 million of preferred shares in NuScale Power, LLC (NuScale) to promote the development of clean advanced nuclear power technology and renewable energy solutions.