ExxonMobil, Air Liquide Accelerate Hydrogen Distribution at Baytown Facility

ExxonMobil is partnering with Air Liquide to support its Baytown, TX facility in the production of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia. The signed agreement enables ExxonMobil to transport the low-carbon hydrogen through Air Liquide’s existing pipeline network. In addition, Air Liquide will construct and operate four large modular air separation units (LMAs) to generate 9,000 metric tons of oxygen and up to 6,500 metric tons of nitrogen per day for Baytown utilizing low-carbon electricity.

“Momentum continues to build for the world’s largest low-carbon hydrogen project and the emerging hydrogen market,” said Dan Ammann, President of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions. “This partnership with Air Liquide further strengthens our Baytown project by enabling hydrogen distribution through existing networks and securing key feedstocks.”

The Baytown hydrogen production facility is a large-scale project, slated to generate 1 billion cubic feet of low-carbon hydrogen per day and more than 1 million tons of ammonia per year. It will also capture more than 98% of CO₂ produced at the site. The partnership with Air Liquide allows ExxonMobil to grow the low-carbon hydrogen market along the Gulf Coast, helping industrial customers to decarbonize operations.

Baytown hydrogen production complex, TX; Image Credits: ExxonMobil

In March 2024, JERA and ExxonMobil partnered to explore the development of a low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production project in the United States—more specifically, at ExxonMobil’s low-carbon hydrogen production plant at the Baytown Complex in Houston, TX.

According to the terms of the PFA, JERA will explore ownership participation in the project via purchase of the Baytown hydrogen production plant. The deal also considers JERA’s procurement of approximately 500,000 tons of low-carbon ammonia per year, which will be produced at the Baytown Complex and transported for demand in Japan.

This month, Air Liquide and Dunkerque LNG received financial support from the European Commission for the D’Artagnan CO₂ transportation and exportation infrastructure project. D’Artagnan would represent:

• an approximate investment of more than €400 million,
• and benefit from a grant of more than €160 million under the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy funding program.

The D’Artagnan project is part of the “Cap Décarbonation” initiative whose mission is to reduce CO₂ emissions by 1.5 mtpa in the industrial basin of Dunkirk and its surroundings. It will feature an Air Liquide pipeline to transport CO₂ from capture sites to a terminal in the West Port of Dunkirk for liquefaction and export via ships. The initiative is also supported by a complementary project: CO₂ capture at the Eqiom cement plant in Lumbres and Lhoist lime production in Réty, both in the north of France and assisted by Air Liquide’s Cryocap technology.

The new terminal will be built and operated by Air Liquide and Dunkerque LNG, receiving and liquefying CO₂ for shipment to permanent storage sites in the North Sea. For future transport and shipment operations, the terminal is expected to handle additional volumes of up to 4 million tons of CO₂ per year, which is equivalent to more than 5% of industrial greenhouse gas emissions in France.