Posted on September 22, 2021
Ørsted and Williams (NYSE: WMB) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore potential jointly developed Power-to-X projects in the US. Through the MOU, the two companies are identifying ways to leverage Ørsted’s renewables and hydrogen expertise with Williams’ natural gas infrastructure and processing experience to co-develop hydrogen or synthetic natural gas facilities powered by renewable energy.
As part of this agreement, the parties are exploring a large-scale wind energy, electrolysis, and synthetic gas-via-methanation co-development in western Wyoming where Williams owns significant land area and natural gas infrastructure.
“We’re excited to partner with Williams to deliver clean fuels in the US and transform our Onshore business into a potential growth platform for renewable hydrogen,” said Vishal Kapadia, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Ørsted Onshore, continuing: “Combining our renewable development and operations expertise with access to large-scale gas transportation networks and infrastructure will further expand the scope of energy solutions we can deliver and positions us well to continue to develop innovative approaches to drive the decarbonisation of the energy system.”
“Natural gas and our large-scale energy infrastructure network are ideal partners for facilitating the integration of renewables into the energy mix, while helping our customers move toward a low-carbon future,” said Chad Zamarin, Senior Vice President for Corporate Strategic Development at Williams, continuing: “It’s through technology innovation and collaboration with forward-thinking companies such as Ørsted that we can leverage our assets and expertise to develop solutions to advance the clean energy economy.”
Williams’ energy infrastructure network, which handles 30 percent of the natural gas used for power generation, heating, and industrial use in the US, is adaptable to future renewable energy storage and transport. The company’s nationwide footprint and best-in-class infrastructure expertise is well-positioned to advance the future of hydrogen, linking the lowest cost production sites for renewable hydrogen and other e-fuels to growing demand centres.
As a leading developer, builder, and owner-operator of renewable generation and the first developer to operate the full spectrum of new renewable technologies at utility scale in the US, Ørsted is uniquely positioned to provide the low-cost clean electricity that is essential to the production of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives.
About Ørsted
The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, and bioenergy plants, and provides energy products to its customers. Ørsted ranks as the world’s most sustainable energy company in Corporate Knights’ 2021 index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world and is recognised on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 6,472 people. Ørsted’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2020, the group’s revenue was DKK 52.6 billion (EUR 7.1 billion). Visit orsted.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
About Williams
Williams (NYSE: WMB) is committed to being the leader in providing infrastructure that safely delivers natural gas products to reliably fuel the clean energy economy. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Williams is an industry-leading, investment grade C-Corp with operations across the natural gas value chain including gathering, processing, interstate transportation and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids. With major positions in top U.S. supply basins, Williams connects the best supplies with the growing demand for clean energy. Williams owns and operates more than 30,000 miles of pipelines system wide – including Transco, the nation’s largest volume and fastest growing pipeline – and handles approximately 30 percent of the natural gas in the United States that is used every day for clean power generation, heating and industrial use.
