A giant generating station in northwest Colorado soon to be put out of commission may be eventually repurposed as a solar electrolysis facility.
The Hayden Generating Station, which is jointly owned by Xcel Energy and PacifiCorp, is located in the town of Hayden, near the Wyoming border.
Earlier this year, Xcel Energy announced a plan to close the facility’s units number 1 and 2 by 2028.
Unit number 1 dates to 1965, with unit number 2 completed eleven years later.
Heyden’s upcoming closure, an Xcel statement earlier said, is a part of the company’s larger facilities-wide plan to reduce overall carbon emissions by 80% in the next decade, ultimately offering entirely carbon-free electricity to customers by 2050.
In a presentation to members of the Routt County Board of Commissioners, an Xcel representative said the company is exploring new purposes for the Hayden Station facility, including turning it into a solar electrolysis plant.
Such plants convert sunlight into hydrogen that can then be sold to gas distributors. According to an Xcel document submitted to the commissioners, hydrogen from the plant could “not only serve as a renewable, zero-emission energy source, but also support a transition for natural gas in a clean energy future.”
A proposal is also looking at transforming the site into a biomass plant, or possibly even a molten salt energy storage facility.
Jack Ihle, an Xcel director of environmental policy, told the commissioners: “The objective is to try to recover some of the tax base that could be lost with the coal plant retirement, maintain jobs in the area, but also drive our technology forward.”
It is not known when a specific plan for repurposing the Hayden plant will be determined.
By Garry Boulard
