Liberty partners on hydrogen Hub project

Liberty has signed on as one of over forty hydrogen ecosystem partners participating in a multi-state agreement led by New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

The consortium of partners will contribute to developing a proposal to become one of at least four regional clean energy hydrogen hubs to support New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal to reduce GHG emissions by 85% by 2050.

Meanwhile, Liberty (RNG) LLC (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN))  announced the recent completion of its acquisition of Sandhill Advanced Biofuels, LLC (Sandhill).

Sandhill is a developer of renewable natural gas (RNG) anaerobic digestion projects located on dairy farms, with a portfolio of four projects in the state of Wisconsin. The completion of this acquisition represents the company’s first investment in non-regulated renewable natural gas.

Once all four projects are fully operational, they will sequester methane from dairy operations to produce an aggregate of ~500 MMBTU/day of RNG for the transportation sector. The farm-based biodigesters and upgrading systems use anaerobic digestions to produce negative carbon-intensity RNG, which is injected into the natural gas pipeline system, displacing carbon-based natural gas.

Jeff Norman, Chief Development Officer, AQN, said, “The Sandhill portfolio of projects is an important one for Liberty: it gives us an opportunity to apply our expertise in renewable development to an energy-generation method known for its low net carbon intensity and gives us a strategic foothold in a highly attractive sector of the RNG market.”