Electric truck manufacturer Nikola Corp. will buy 100 metric tons of hydrogen a day from Plug Power in exchange for selling Plug Power up to 75 fuel cell electric trucks over the next three years.
Nikola’s hydrogen-powered fuel cell Class 8 cabover truck goes into production next year at a greenfield plant in Coolidge, Arizona. Nikola is building a hydrogen hub in nearby Buckeye to make the hydrogen needed to fuel the trucks. The facility is going through permitting and rezoning processes. Nikola is procuring long-lead equipment.
Nikola previously announced plans for 60 hydrogen stations by 2026 and it has advanced to the second phase of evaluation for Department of Energy hydrogen hub loan guarantees of up to $1.3 billion. Hydrogen processed in Buckeye would be trucked to the stations in the zero-emissions Nikola Tre fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
The company announced in October that it would work with KeyState Natural Gas Synthesis, a clean hydrogen and chemicals production facility under development to create Pennsylvania’s first low-carbon hydrogen production value chain. Aliquippa,-based PGT Trucking signed a letter of intent to lease 100 Nikola FCEVs in October 2021.
Nikola trucks paired with Plug Power trailers
Plug Power will purchase up to 75 Nikola Tre FCEVs over the next three years. The first trucks are expected to be delivered in 2023 and will be paired with Plug’s liquid hydrogen tankers.
In exchange, Nikola agreed to a 125 metric tons per day green hydrogen supply agreement. The company will take a minimum of 100 metric tons of hydrogen per day. It has an option to increase volume as new Plug facilities come online across the country.
Plug Power will provide its fully integrated liquefaction system to produce 30 metric tons of low-carbon hydrogen per day in its first phase, scaling up to 150 metric tons per day.
“This strategic relationship will help underpin Nikola’s ambitious growth plans to expand the hydrogen energy business and to support the adoption of Nikola’s zero-emission Class 8 trucks,” Carey Mendes, Nikola president, energy, said in a news release.
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