The US state of Mississippi has not been a very good friend to renewable energy, which makes it a somewhat weird place to build a gigantic new green hydrogen facility. After all, green hydrogen requires solar arrays, wind farms, or other renewable energy facilities, of which Mississippi has very few.
In addition, the wind farm logjam appears to be busting open. Though most of the state is wind-poor, commercial development is viable in some areas. Last year the firm AES announced plans to construct Mississippi’s, Delta Wind, with a capacity of 184.5 megawatts. The turbines will be located on working farms in Tunica County, in the northwest corner of the state where wind resources are fairly decent.
It remains to be seen if Mississippi exploits its offshore wind resources. The Department of the Interior manages offshore leases in federal waters through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The office has auctioned Gulf of Mexico leases for Texas and Louisiana, but as of this writing it has not defined offshore lease areas for Mississippi.
As for where exactly is this strategic location, the Hy Stor website is not particularly forthcoming. However, in July of 2022, the coastal county of Hancock let slip some details about strategic partnership between Hy Store and the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission.in the form of the Richton Dome, a natural salt cave near Hattiesburg in Perry County, about 100 miles north of the coast.
If you’re wondering why the Mississippi hub was not selected for funding through the Energy Department’s new $8 billion, that’s a good question. You’ll have to ask the Energy Department. We’re guessing that the selection process prioritized projects with multi-state partnerships, pushing single-state initiatives down a notch.