Bechtel Nevada to Establish Hydrogen Demo Facility

Bechtel Nevada is composed of three companies: Bechtel Nevada Corporation, Johnson Controls Nevada, Inc., and Lockheed Martin Nevada Technologies, Inc. Each of these companies is a subsidiary of its respective international parent company.

Bechtel Nevada manages and operates the work at the Nevada Test Site and its related facilities for the U.S. Department of Energy Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV). An extensive outdoor laboratory larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the Nevada Test Site is the nation’s proving grounds for nuclear weapons, now conducted through simulation. The site now hosts diversified projects such as advanced high-energy physics experiments, hazardous chemical spill tests, emergency response training, conventional weapons testing, a solar enterprize zone, and environmental technology studies. Besides its work for DOE/NV, Bechtel Nevada partners with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories on many projects. Bechtel Nevada also works on projects for other federal agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy.

Bechtel Nevada has a cadre of architectural engineers, construction force, craftsmen, engineers, miners, environmental specialists, health/safety experts, nuclear physicists, physical scientists, technicians, and other professionals. More than half of Bechtel Nevada’s 2,700 employees work in the Las Vegas, Nevada, area or at the nearby Nevada Test Site. The company has satellite offices in Pleasanton, California, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, as well as the Special Technologies Laboratory in Santa Barbara, California. Bechtel Nevada also operates the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Nellis Air Force Base and its sister group, Washington Aerial Measurements Operations, which is located at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C.

Hydrogen Activities

DOE/NV and Bechtel Nevada intend to establish the Alternative Fuels Test and Demonstration Facility. At this facility, DOE/NV will focus its efforts on technologies relating to selected alternative fuels and their use in a variety of vehicles and stationary power generation units. The facility will specialize in providing services for testing and demonstration of technologies to both government and industry customers to further develop and evaluate technology prior to its full-scale commercialization.

Hydrogen technology has been selected as the initial focus of the new facility. A number of seed projects have been selected for immediate implementation to initiate the Alternative Fuels Test and Demonstration Facility. These projects are:

  1. Stationary Hydrogen-Enriched Natural Gas Engine Demonstration, proposed by the Center for Sustainable Technology through the NTS Development Corporation, the Community Reuse Organization;
  2. Hydrogen-Enriched Automotive Engine Demonstration, proposed by NRG, Inc., through the NTS Development Corporation.
  3. Natural Gas Fuel Cell Bus Project, proposed by Arthur D. Little in response to natural gas fuel cell program being planned by DOE.

Regional Economic Diversification

DOE/NV intends to draw upon the significant assets already available in DOE/NV and Southern Nevada to initiate a technology diversification program that can assist in enhancing the economic diversification of the region and the NTS. Assets that could be utilized include:

  1. Consistent and known meteorology of the Las Vegas Valley and the Nevada Test Site (the wide range of temperature and altitude within the test site allows alternative fuel technologies to be tested under demanding operating conditions);
  2. Easily monitored urban setting with emissions test facilities;
  3. Remote sensing capabilities;
  4. Fleet of 100+ compressed natural gas buses available for conversion to natural gas/hydrogen fuel blends;
  5. High profile of Las Vegas, allowing both urban transportation programs and stationary power generation technologies to be effectively demonstrated;
  6. Status as non-attainment area for particulate, CO, and NOx (under proposed regulation);
  7. Strong backing from state and local government agencies and representatives;
  8. Availability of staff experienced in testing, monitoring, and data analysis; and
  9. Cooperative agreements with universities and the Desert Research Institute.

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