Monarch Energy, a California-based green hydrogen project developer, and LS Power have formed a partnership to deploy a portfolio of green hydrogen projects throughout the US. LS Power intends to invest up to $400 million into projects developed by Monarch as part of the newly established Clean Hydrogen Fuels, LLC platform.
Furthermore, LS Power provided $25 million in preferred equity financing for Monarch Energy and will hold a seat on Monarch’s Board of Directors. This investment will be used to advance Monarch’s pipeline of projects, expand to new regions within the US. Monarch Energy is pursuing large-scale electrolyzer projects to deliver cost-competitive green hydrogen to customers in the refining, chemicals, fertiliser, long-haul transport, and other hard-to-decarbonise industries. Forming the Clean Hydrogen Fuels partnership will enable Monarch to leverage LS Power’s broad platform of expertise across project development, commodities, environmental attribute and credit risk management, power marketing, public policy and market development, and project finance.
In November 2022, LS Power agreed to acquire 42 run-of-river hydropower facilities in the US from Hull Street Energy. The hydroelectric plants, which are spread across 11 US states, have a total 334 MW capacity. Of these, 48 MW are operated by the New York Independent System Operator, and 152 MW are located in New England and 86 MW in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland region.