An international aviation and aerospace company is on the verge of building a massive manufacturing plant at the Albuquerque International Sunport.
Founded in early 2020, Universal Hydrogen is focused on hydrogen-based aviation technology that can be used in existing airplanes. The company also specializes in what it calls “hydrogen fuel packs” to be transported to airports both nationally and internationally with the goal of converting existing aircraft to hydrogen power.
It is thought that it will cost up to $254 million to build Universal Hydrogen’s new Albuquerque facility, a plant that will put New Mexico on the map in the emerging hydrogen plane market.
“This company can deliver a net-zero carbon footprint in aviation, making New Mexico one of the top leaders in this space around the world,” New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said in announcing the company’s decision to set up operations in Albuquerque.
As part of a package to secure the Universal Hydrogen deal, the New Mexico Economic Development Department has committed itself to putting up some $10 million in Local Economic Development Act funding.
As planned, the company’s manufacturing facility and distribution center will be built on 50 acres of land that formerly served as a north-south runway at the airport, to the northeast of the Sunport’s passenger terminal.
Work on the plant could begin by summer, with an anticipated 2024 completion date.
Late last year, Universal Hydrogen secured $62 million in funding, bringing its total raised capital to $85 million.
Upon the announcement of that funding, Paul Ermenko, chief executive office of the company, remarked: “If we want to decarbonize the industry on the timeframe of the Paris Agreement, the world’s narrowbody airliner fleet has to become hydrogen-powered starting in the 2030s.”
By Garry Boulard
