Atlas Copco Compressors And Expanders For Texas Hydrogen Liquefaction Plants

Atlas Copco Gas and Process, a provider of customized rotating equipment, has secured an order from Plug Power Inc., a provider of turnkey solutions for the global green hydrogen economy, to provide compressors and expanders for two 15 tons per day (TPD) hydrogen liquefaction plants that will be built in Texas. The scope of the order includes two nitrogen compressors, four nitrogen turboexpanders, and four hydrogen turboexpanders, expected to be delivered in the Q2 2023. The turbo compressors will be manufactured at Atlas Copco Comptec in Voorheesville, New York, while the turboexpander units will be manufactured at Atlas Copco Mafi-Trench in Santa Maria, California.

This is the first order resulting from the strategic collaboration that Plug Power and Atlas Copco Gas and Process jointly entered in February 2022. Plug Power signed an agreement with Atlas Copco Mafi-Trench Company LLC, the turboexpander technology center within the Gas and Process division of Atlas Copco, to develop hydrogen liquefaction plants. This agreement enables knowledge and technology sharing between the two companies, allowing both entities to continually refine liquefaction process technology to increase plant output and lower the cost of hydrogen liquefaction.

“We are pleased to supply Plug Power with our equipment as they make significant steps toward scaling their hydrogen production and liquefaction capability and liquefaction plant offerings,” said Robert Radimeczky, president of Atlas Copco Gas and Process. “By making hydrogen more affordable, more industries can increase hydrogen utilization in their processes. We see these two liquefaction plants as important steps in both organizations’ commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.”