Douglas PUD Moving Forward to Build Hydrogen Plant

A Douglas County PUD hydrogen plant should be up and running in about a year.The plant will generate hydrogen that the utility plans to sell from a fueling station for hydrogen powered cars and for other industrial uses.It’ll also serve to absorb much of the stress that leads to wear and tear at its river dam known as the Wells Hydroelectric Project.Meaghan Vibbert with the PUD says the hydrogen plant will take in constant signals that now go to big mechanical equipment at the dam that has to instantly adjust to fluctuations in the regional power grid.”The idea is to increase our efficiencies and decrease our maintenance necessary on those big units by doing all of the fluctuations there at the hydrogen plant rather than the hydroelectric project,” said Vibbert.The hydrogen plant is a $25 million project.It’s slightly behind schedule because of design changes in April for the…

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