US industrial gases producer Air Products is building a new liquid hydrogen plant in the US state of California to meet what it said is increasing demand from several customer markets, including the growing fleet of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV) in the state that is often at the forefront of technical development in the US.

Development work on the California facility is already under way, with start-up expected during the first quarter of 2021

Air Products, which claims to be the country’s leading global hydrogen provider, is engaged in several related projects, including building the needed infrastructure to fuel these new vehicles.  It is also supplying hydrogen to altogether 250 hydrogen demonstration plants in the US and abroad.

The new liquid hydrogen plant is the second the company has unveiled for the US market in the past few months. In September 2018, it announced plans for a new plant at its La Porte, Texas facility, which will also go on stream in 2021 and be supplied with hydrogen from the Pennsylvania-based company’s extensive Gulf Coast pipeline network.

Air Products already produces liquid hydrogen in in the California state capital of Sacramento, as well as at New Orleans, Louisiana, at Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

“Current customer demand for liquid hydrogen is driving the need for this new investment,” said Marie Ffolkes, president, Americas. She said demand is being driven by traditional outlets but is also increasingly coming from the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sector.

Ffolkes added that Air Products is in the evaluation phase of adding further renewable hydrogen capacity from multiple sources in preparation for California’s increased FCV demand.