Albuquerque Development Thread

[ABQalex]

The governor announced yesterday that a California company will bring at least 500 jobs to Albuquerque and invest $254 million to build a hydrogen factory at the Sunport. It will be built on part of the land that was supposed to be the location of the Orion Center. The land has now been reverted back to its original name, the Aviation Center of Excellence.

https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2022/03/10/universal-hydrogen-expand-albuquerque.html

Universal Hydrogen, a California-based company, plans to invest $254 million in New Mexico and hire at least 500 people over the next seven years as it expands to Albuquerque, according to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The governor made the announcement Thursday in Albuquerque following meetings with tribal leaders and officials from around New Mexico.

Universal Hydrogen has locations in California, Washington and France.

The company will expand to Albuquerque's Aviation Center of Excellence, according to Richard McCurley, the city's aviation director.

Located northeast of the passenger terminal at the Albuquerque International Sunport, the Aviation Center of Excellence has been an attractive asset for the city, given its proximity to the Albuquerque International Sunport, Kirtland Airforce Base and Sandia National Labs.

It had been proposed as the site of a massive project by Theia Group Inc., which wanted to launch a network of satellites to gather imagery and data that would inform border security, natural resource exploration and more. City officials backed away from the project in December.

Here's the Albuquerque Journal's coverage, which reveals more details, including the aviation focus to the company’s plans here in Albuquerque. It also reveals that 1,200 construction jobs will be created during the facility's construction over the next two years, and that the state will be granting $10 million in LEDA funding to the project, with the city possibly contributing $2 million more.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2478078/international-firm-to-invest-254m-in-abq-hydrogen-factory.html

The Albuquerque International Sunport could become ground zero for the birth of hydrogen-based aviation, thanks to an out-of-state company that plans to build a manufacturing plant there for new hydrogen technology that it has developed.

Universal Hydrogen – an international firm with operations in California, Washington and Toulouse, France – will invest $254 million in a new factory at the Sunport, potentially employing up to 500 people there, the company announced Thursday afternoon in a news conference with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The firm has created drop-in technology to retrofit existing planes to allow them to fly on hydrogen, plus modular storage capsules – or hydrogen fuel packs – that can be safely shipped to airports around the world to power up newly converted, hydrogen-based aircraft.

The company will manufacture both the hydrogen fuel capsules and its plane-retrofit technology, which it calls “powertrain conversion kits,” at the planned Sunport factory, said Jon Gordon, Universal Hydrogen co-founder and general counsel.

“We’re developing something considered improbable just a few years ago – a zero-carbon aviation solution,” Gordon told reporters. “And we’ll be doing it very soon here in New Mexico.”

The state will contribute $10 million in Local Economic Development Act funding for the project, which could have a $700 million economic impact here over the next 10 years, Lujan Grisham said during the news conference at Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town.

Universal Hydrogen’s decision to locate in Albuquerque will elevate the state’s image as a leader in global efforts to eliminate carbon emissions in hard-to-decarbonize sectors of the economy, the governor said.

“This company can deliver a net-zero carbon footprint in aviation, making New Mexico one of the top leaders in this space around the world,” she said. “It shows New Mexico is leading on this frontier.”
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Universal’s aircraft retrofit technology and fuel storage capsules are well advanced, Gordon told reporters. It currently has agreements with 11 aviation companies to retrofit nearly 100 turboprop aircraft, with a goal for those planes to be in commercial service with full Federal Aviation Administration certification by 2025.

“Hydrogen is the best and only scalable solution to truly decarbonize aviation, and we want to bring it to market decades sooner than anyone thought possible,” Gordon said.

Once Universal proves its retrofit technology on the turboprop planes, it plans to apply it to larger commercial aircraft, and to other things like drones, ground transportation and industrial equipment.

Apart from the retrofit, or powertrain conversion kits, Universal’s modular storage capsules can provide a cost-effective, alternative solution for delivering hydrogen wherever it’s needed with existing infrastructure. It eliminates the need to build new pipelines, tankers or hydrogen storage facilities, Gordon said.

Universal signed a letter of intent with the city of Albuquerque to build its new factory on 50 acres of land northeast of the Sunport passenger terminal. That area used to occupy a north-south runway, but it was decommissioned in 2012.

The city is expected to serve as fiscal agent for the state’s LEDA grant to Universal Hydrogen. The City Council must still approve Albuquerque’s participation, which could include an additional $2 million in municipal economic development funding for the project.

Factory construction is expected to generate more than 1,200 jobs over the next two years.

The plant is targeted to open in 2024 to meet the company’s retrofit contracts for turboprop aircraft.

“We want those planes to be in the air by 2025,” Gordon told reporters. “We need to hit the ground running.”