Bakken Energy progresses with multibillion loan application

Bakken Energy, through its subsidiary Great Plains Hydrogen, LLC, has been invited by the US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) to submit a Part II application under the Title XVII Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program.

The invitation is an important milestone in Bakken’s process of applying for DOE financing for $1.7 billion of Bakken’s $2.35 billion clean hydrogen project.

Established via Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the DOE-backed loan, if awarded after DOE reviews the Part II application and completes subsequent due diligence, will support the acquisition of the Great Plains Synfuels Plant in North Dakota and its redevelopment into a world-class production facility with low-cost clean hydrogen.

DOE’s invitation to submit a Part II application is not an assurance that DOE will invite the applicant into the due diligence and term sheet negotiation process, that DOE will offer a term sheet to the applicant, or that the terms and conditions of a term sheet will be consistent with terms proposed by the applicant.

Bakken Energy has partnered with Mitsubishi Power Americas on this first clean hydrogen production facility with an estimated gross production capacity of 381,000 metric tons/year of clean hydrogen.

The project will employ new and significantly improved technologies including ultra-high efficiency, state-of-the-art Auto-Thermal Reforming (ATR) technology and ensures greater than 95% capture rates for resultant CO2 while delivering economical hydrogen production. This clean hydrogen production facility will provide clean hydrogen to our target markets of long-haul trucking and agriculture in the Upper Midwest region.

In addition, Bakken Energy has partnered with the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara (MHA) Nation to use low carbon intensity clean hydrogen production processes to work toward the elimination of natural gas flaring and the related CO2 emissions from flaring on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Bakken Energy will capture natural gas that would otherwise be flared and convert it into clean hydrogen.

Steve Lebow, Bakken Energy Chairman and Founder, said, “Bakken Energy is proud to have met their stringent Part I requirements and mindful that the magnitude of the project is historic not just for clean hydrogen, but for the whole clean energy industry.”

Mike Hopkins, CEO of Bakken Energy, added, “The transformation of the Great Plains Synfuels Plant is a challenging and important undertaking but is just the first in a series of clean hydrogen projects we and our partners are developing.”