Apex Clean Energy LLC is managed by the Infrastructure and Power strategy of Ares Management Corp. EPIC Midstream Holdings LP and Port of Corpus Christi Authority. They have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which is non-binding. The MOU aims at exploring the development of a green hydrogen production, storage and transportation operation. This includes a newly constructed dedicated pipeline and a greenfuels hub to be found at the Port of Corpus Christi (Texas Gulf Coast).
The project would produce green hydrogen and other derivative green fuels in volumes not yet seen in the United States, with additional scale possible by decade’s end. Apex plans to use its Texas portfolio of wind and solar projects to power facilities that produce green hydrogen and other derivative green fuels products. EPIC will also look at leveraging its expertise in operating and pipeline construction to speed up the development of a dedicated green-fuels pipeline. The project would also aim to leverage and develop existing and future storage, processing, export infrastructures located on PCCA land.
“We are excited to build on our existing relationship with PCCA to develop and build what we believe will be one of the largest green hydrogen projects in the country to date,” says Keith Derman, partner and co-head of Ares Infrastructure and Power. “The project demonstrates the type of innovative, broad and collaborative approach across industries and stakeholders that we believe can deliver novel energy solutions that help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and combat climate change. Further, this underscores Ares’ leading capabilities in providing differentiated solutions to a growing asset class as we seek to drive returns for our investors through opportunities aligned with their sustainability goals.”
Ares and PCCA had previously signed a separate, non-binding memorandum in May 2021. This MOU was to develop renewable energy infrastructure on PCCA property to support the production and optionality of renewable power to the port and its customers. This MOU is a continuation of that effort, focusing on the development and implementation of green fuels projects.
“This project seeks to generate and deliver green hydrogen and other clean fuels precisely where they are needed most – at the industrial backbone of our nation,” states Mark Goodwin, Apex Clean Energy’s president and CEO. “Together with Ares, EPIC and the Port of Corpus Christi, Apex would leverage the highest-quality wind and solar resources in Texas to help decarbonize difficult-to-abate industries – including the transportation, shipping, fertilizer, chemical and refining sectors – and include optionality for global export. This would be green fuel production at gigawatt scale.”
“This initiative is exactly the type of interdisciplinary collaboration that would enable scalable projects that move the needle on diversification of the energy marketplace,” mentions Jeff Pollack, chief strategy and sustainability officer for the Port of Corpus Christi. “This monumental potential project would directly contribute to the burgeoning clean hydrogen hub at the Port of Corpus Christi and would directly support our ambitions to cultivate world-scale hydrogen exports as our part in national decarbonization and energy balance of trade objectives.”