Element Fuels completes site work for hydrogen-powered refinery, power plant

Element Fuels Holdings LLC completed site preparation and pre-construction on a new hydrogen-powered refinery and combined-cycle power plant in the Port of Brownsville, Tex., designed to process high gravity domestic shale oil to produce low-carbon intensity fuels.

“Element Fuels has received the necessary permitting to construct and operate a refinery capable of producing in excess of 160,000 bbl, or approximately 6.7 million gal/day of finished gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel,” said founder and co-chief executive officer John Calce. “A permit for a greenfield refinery of this size, scope, and functionality has not been granted in the United States since the 1970’s. This speaks to the innovative approaches we are taking to address climate and sustainability concerns in cleaner, greener ways that are new to the refinery space,” he said as part of a release June 6.

The complex is expected to produce enough hydrogen to supply 100% of the refinery’s fuel requirements, limiting CO2 emissions. Excess hydrogen produced would be used to generate utility-scale electricity from Element’s hydrogen-capable combined-cycle gas turbine power plant. Over 100 MW of excess electricity generated from Element’s power plant could be made available to the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the company said.

Element Fuels expects the complex, sited on more than 240 acres, to be operational in 2027 and has contracted McDermott International to provide front-end engineering design services for the complex, including offsites and utilities.