At the direction of the California Public Utilities Commission, SoCalGas is proposing a local demonstration project that could safely blend up to 5% clean, renewable hydrogen into the natural gas system serving approximately 10,000 residents, along with commercial customers in the City of Orange Cove, in Fresno County.
Project Overview
- The project would blend clean, renewable hydrogen with natural gas into the existing gas distribution system serving approximately 10,000 residents, along with commercial customers in the City of Orange Cove
- The project will be located on the southwest corner of Jacobs Avenue and South Avenue
- Starting with small concentrations of 0.1% gradually increasing the hydrogen concentrations up to 5%
- Active blending is expected to last approximately 18 months in the city
How Hydrogen Blending Works
Orange Cove Could Help Pave the Way for a Carbon-Free Future
To support California's climate and clean air goals, SoCalGas is proposing a demonstration project that will blend clean, renewable hydrogen serving residents and businesses. This project would offer a real-world environment to better understand how clean hydrogen and natural gas can be safely delivered to customers in the future. This is part of a broader effort by California and utilities to develop a standard for safe hydrogen blending, which could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. The data gathered from this demonstration can also help assess how to speed the development and deployment of related advanced technologies key to the state’s climate and clean air goals.