46,000 Acres, $1.7B

Pronghorn’s Clean Hydrogen project heads update commissioners, share plans, say they want to work with Duncan Ranch trail-users

Pronghorn Clean Hydrogen’s more than $1.7 billion, 46,000 acre project in Converse County is estimated to start construction in mid-to-late 2028, company officials told the Converse County commissioners last week.

Of course, that is all contingent upon the necessary state permits and state land leases being granted, as well as leases with private land owners going through.

The behemoth of a project would include a 300 MW windfarm, a 280 MW solar farm, a 260 MW hydrogen electrolysis plant and, ultimately, a clean hydrogen fuel production facility capable of creating 18 million gallons of fuel per year.

Originally, the project was proposed to be built crossing the Converse and Niobrara county lines to the east of Douglas and Orin Jct. Now, it is being proposed to be located just a few miles outside of Glenrock on the western side of the county.

The company’s wind energy development lease application for the windfarm is filed with the Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI). Company information indicates they’ve been working with OSLI and private lessees since 2022.

On Feb. 6, Pronghorn H2, LLC was scheduled to go before the Wyoming State Board of Land Commissioners to ask the board’s approval of 45-year-long private and state leases for the wind farm power generation portion. 

However, OSLI / SBLC removed the Pronghorn leases from its agenda. Those involved said that was done to provide more time to consider the total project.

THE STAKEHOLDERS

Focus Clean Energy President Paul Martin and Aspen Consulting Services President Mike Noonan on March 18 presented the county commissioners with an informational slideshow presentation full of facts and figures on the enormous project. 

The purpose of the meeting was to update commissioners and the public as to the hydrogen project’s status, but it was not a meeting for public feedback. Another meeting will be set at a later time which will include public comments, County Commission Chairman Jim Willox explained.

“Pronghorn presented to us . . . probably year and a half ago about the project to begin with. This is really just informational, as they’ve narrowed their project down a little bit to what it is . . . it was a Converse/Niobrara (project) when (they) came to us then. 

“With the interest on the state lands and other things, we’ve also had conversations offline with them about some things. I think we will address some of them today, but this is not the public feedback portion of their permit process, because there will be a very formal process for that moving forward. But we knew there was a lot of interest and we needed to understand it better as well,” Willox said.

Martin shared a bit about his and his company’s background to help the commissioners and others understand how serious and well-financed the companies are.

“I have been developing wind farms in Wyoming since 2007. I am an early stage developer. I have done approximately 1,700 megawatts of wind in Albany and Carbon counties. We completed the Boswell Springs project last year. That was the first one to reach the finish line.

“Three years ago Nordex approached me. Nordex is a large wind turbine manufacturer, third or fourth in the world outside of China,” Martin said. 

While under development by Martin’s company, the clean hydrogen project is a joint venture between Acciona (located in Spain) and Nordex (a German company), two leading infrastructure and renewable energy companies who are providing funding and technical support for the project, he explained.

“Acciona has a market cap in the tens of billions of dollars. So, they’re providing the funding and the technical support for the project. They have U.S. offices located in Chicago, Illinois. Acciona currently owns and operates 11 wind and four solar projects in the USA,” Martin said. “Nordex wind turbines are installed on 55 projects in the USA.”

46,000 ACRES

Pronghorn is leasing properties that are a mix of private (57%) and state (43%) landowners, they said. One of the lease requests also includes leasing portions of the state-owned Duncan Ranch south of Glenrock and parcels up near the turnoff for Boxelder Canyon.

Martin said Pronghorn will use wind and solar to generate hydrogen, because that’s the cheapest way to get electricity.

“And even though it’s intermittent, we fill in with other sources, (but) it still brings down the cost of electricity to justify (it) . . . that’s a major point, I think,” Martin said. He then explained a graphic (see above right for the graphic) that outlines the footprint of the project. 

“We’ve been studying that footprint for  two years.

“We will continue to do environmental work, but what we’ve found is that there’s a lot of environmental resources that we don’t want to impact. And, so, we have reduced the area that we’re actually going to construct on to roughly what you see here. We are still at an early stage of our whole project.”

Martin said many of the aspects will change over time, but “this is what we’re working on right now.

“Pronghorn is committed to minimizing impacts to the Duncan Ranch Trail. (We) will not cross the existing trail with any access roads; (we) will not impede access and use of the existing trail during construction or operations. Pronghorn has avoided 20,000 acres of buildable area in order to safeguard wildlife. These concessions require us to site a small number of wind turbines on the Duncan Ranch,” Martin said.

He also reiterated they are more than willing to work with recreation and user groups, such as the Outdoor Enthusiasts of Converse County and others, to make sure that their presence at Duncan Ranch will not infringe upon trails already in place and future plans.

The company said their aim is “to create a project that coexists with, and supports, recreational use for decades to come.”

Willox said the commissioners really want Pronghorn to work hard with the people “involved in the trails, to impact the recreation in that area as little as possible – and to preserve what’s there.”

ECONOMICS

The hydrogen project, according to the company, will create a significant number of well-paying local jobs throughout its lifespan. ICF, a global consulting firm, created an economic impact analysis of the Pronghorn project using IMPLAN modeling, however, Martin acknowledged that the numbers (jobs and taxes) will likely need some adjustment as the project moves forward.

For now, the projected numbers include 65 direct jobs and 42 indirect jobs, which amounts to an estimated $362 million in income as a result (an average of $10 million a year).

Martin explained that the 35-year operations phase provides significant, sustained tax revenue to Converse County, an estimated $327 million, through sales and use tax, personal property and wind generation taxes, according to projections. Pronghorn’s estimates include $144 million paid out to the State of Wyoming.

Pronghorn’s estimated taxes would increase the annual Converse County budget by 18%, based on the 2023-24 Converse County budget of just under $49 million. Average annual tax payments from Pronghorn are estimated at $8,949,000.

TIMELINE

Many private land lease agreements are already done, but not everyone has signed on yet, which is the reason for the project area shaped the way it is on the map, Martin said. 

Obtaining land leases is expected to wrap up this year, although Pronghorn started work to obtain agreements with ranchers and other land owners in 2022.

Pronghorn’s timeline indicates that MET (meteorological) towers were erected in 2023. Those towers are used to gather the wind data necessary for site evaluation and development of wind energy projects, according to the Federal Aviation Administration website. 

Environmental field studies also began in 2023 and will continue through sometime this year.

Water engineering, evaluation and acquisition began in 2022 and is expected to continue into 2026. 

Water rights have not been obtained at this time, Martin conceded, but “Plan A” is to use surface water transfers from existing industrial class users on the North Platte River, with no increase in water consumption from the river.

The project is expected to use 300 acre feet of water per year, which, according to company data, would use less water than what the Dave Johnston Power Plant in Glenrock currently does. (The DJ plant is slowly being decommissioned by its owner PacifiCorp in this decade.)

However, concern was expressed for the project’s use of 300 acre feet of water per year by Commissioner Trent Kaufman. One acre foot of water is 325,851 gallons; 300 acre feet of water equates to 97,755,300 gallons of water per year.

“Plan B” is to use ground water from new wells in remote aquifers.

Design engineering began on the project last year and is estimated to continue into 2026. Permitting is slated for late 2026 and into 2027.