BNSF Joins Bakken Energy’s Heartland Hydrogen Hub Design Team
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Developer of clean hydrogen Bakken Energy announced Jan. 4 that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with BNSF Railway (BNSF) to work together on the design of the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, specifically the role of “railways as consumers and transporters of clean hydrogen.”
In collaboration with the States of North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Montana, North Dakota-based Bakken Energy is working on the design of the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, a regional clean hydrogen hub competing to obtain federal funding through the Department of Energy’s $7 billion Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program announced Sept.22, 2022, as part of the larger $8 billion hydrogen hub program funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The foundation of the industry-led hub is Bakken Energy’s “large scale affordable clean hydrogen production using natural gas that would otherwise be flared, including carbon capture and sequestration,” the company said.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and Wisconsin Gov. Toney Evers signed an MOU on Oct. 5, 2022, to develop the regional clean hydrogen hub, which will incorporate clean hydrogen products from various energy sources across the participating states to “help meet the nation’s clean energy, transportation and agricultural needs.” North Dakota, through the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, will lead the effort to develop the application in collaboration with industry partners and state coordinators from all four states. The states also have agreed to identify opportunities to collaborate with tribal nations.
“It is a privilege to be partnered with BNSF” said Bakken Energy Founder and Chairman Steve Lebow. “Railways could play a critical role in distributing our clean hydrogen production and could also be consumers as trains transition from diesel. BNSF is the ideal partner to work out the role of railways in our Heartland Hydrogen Hub.”
“For Bakken Energy, and our Heartland Hydrogen Hub, it is all about making clean hydrogen abundant and affordable” added Bakken Energy CEO Mike Hopkins. “Part of the equation is production, but the other part is distribution and that’s where BNSF will be invaluable. Being able to transport our hydrogen by rail would dramatically reduce our distribution costs and therefore the cost to consumers.”
“We see our work with Bakken Energy and the Heartland Hydrogen Hub as part of our commitment to a more sustainable energy and transportation system, including exploring the role railways can play in a hydrogen economy” said John Lovenburg, VP of Environment and Sustainability at BNSF.
The MOU with BNSF follows an October 2022 announcement in which Bakken Energy announced an alliance with Cummins Inc. and Schneider Carriers Inc. to work together on the design of the Heartland Hydrogen Hub to “serve the needs of long-haul trucking.”
