Nikola Corporation (NKLA)

[WeTheMarket]

Follow up to my previous post. The following is a map of Arizona, showing the location of Nikola factory in central Arizona.



And the following is an article on Nikola's plans to build a large hydrogen production facility/hub in central Arizona.

Nikola Corp. outlines plans for new hydrogen hub in West Valley
Phoenix Business Journal
Link to article

Phoenix-based Nikola Corp. (Nasdaq: NKLA) has submitted plans to the city of Buckeye for its new hydrogen manufacturing plant in the southern part of the city.

The company has been working on building a new hydrogen production hub, dubbed Project H20, across hundreds of acres in Buckeye just west of State Route 85 near the Arizona Department of Corrections Lewis Prison at 28702 W. Patterson Road.

The plant is part of Nikola’s plans to build out a large-scale hydrogen supply and dispensing infrastructure business for its trucks as well as for industrial, residential and commercial heating and for decarbonizing natural gas and power generation.

Nikola said it will first build a nearly 160-acre liquid hydrogen production facility at the southeast portion of its property and eventually expand onto the remaining acres it owns as demand increases. Its hydrogen facility is expected to use clean manufacturing practices such as liquification and electrolysis, project documents said.

Its current goal for the facility is to produce between 150 and 300 metric tons of liquid hydrogen daily to store on site before distribution. The plant will comprise two administrative buildings, a 7.3-acre liquification package, 7.4-acre electrolyzer package and water treatment facility.

About 20 permanent jobs will be created for skilled plant operators and technicians over three rotating shifts and about 150 construction jobs will also be created to build the facility. Project documents said the median hourly wage will be approximately $40 hourly. Construction is also expected to occur over 14 to 16 months.

Plans for 160-acre site
Nikola has applied for a minor change to the city’s general plan to redesignate about 158 acres from rural to industrial uses and to rezone the same site from single-family rural residential to allow for heavy industrial uses at its property. HilgartWilson is listed as the engineering firm. Nikola is being represented by Gammage & Burnham PLC.

Buckeye’s planning commission is scheduled to vote on the two applications at its Tuesday, April 11 meeting, while City Council is expected to vote on the project on May 2.

Nikola claims that its new hydrogen hub will help Buckeye to become a “leader” in renewable energy production in Phoenix as well as Arizona and that it will expand the current network of hydrogen production, distribution and dispensing planned for North America.

“This expanded network will further support the increasing demand for Nikola’s commercial vehicle leases and allow for future expansion into hydrogen powered infrastructure solutions for the city of Buckeye and the surrounding area,” Nikola said in documents submitted to the city.

The plant is expected to use existing private well water, which Nikola said is “sufficient” to meet the proposed level of development, demand and use.

Plans for the new hydrogen facility come as the company launches a new brand called HYLA to represent its hydrogen business. HYLA comprises the company’s energy products for producing, distributing and dispensing hydrogen to fuel its zero-emissions electric trucks.

Under the HYLA brand, Nikola intends to develop more than 300 metric-tons per day of hydrogen, which is expected to be supported by the company’s planned hydrogen hub in Buckeye and its partnerships with Plug Power, Wabash Valley Resources, TC Energy and KeyState to develop additional hydrogen production facilities nationwide.

Nikola acquired nearly 1,000 acres for its plant in September for $16.5 million and confirmed its plans shortly after to build a hydrogen production hub at the site. The sale closed several years after Nikola first considered building its vehicle manufacturing plant in another part of Buckeye but chose Coolidge instead.

The vehicle manufacturer applied for potentially $1.3 billion in federal loan money to build its plant in Buckeye last year under the Innovative Clean Energy projects program with the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Program Office.

Numerous projects have been announced in the energy sector in the U.S. following the August 2022 signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, including new projects across Arizona such as LG Energy Solution’s ramped up investment in a battery plant and new battery facilities in southern Arizona. The act provides incentives, funding and programs to accelerate the transition to a “clean energy economy” in the U.S.