A company that uses hydrogen to fuel airplanes is building a manufacturing and distribution center in the Albuquerque Sunport.
Universal Hydrogen, based in California, is utilizing a $10 million investment from the state of New Mexico to build on 50-acres of airport property near the intersection of Gibson and Girard, according to a KRQE report. State funding will come from New Mexico’s Local Economic Development Act (LEDA).
“Not only is it a lot of jobs for Albuquerque, but it begins to show that New Mexico is leading in this effort that we know is very critical,” Lawrence Rael, chief operating officer for the City of Albuquerque, said in the report. “Not just for the survival of our communities, quite frankly, for the survival of our world as it relates to climate change.”
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the announcement alongside several state legislators, Universal Hydrogen officials, and Albuquerque leaders. She also signed an executive order ensuring further hydrogen investment in New Mexico.
Universal Hydrogen expects to hire as many as 500 people to work at the planned Albuquerque facility over the next seven years. The investment is said to be worth more than $254 million, according to Universal Hydrogen, which expects to spend two years planning and building the Albuquerque facility.
Universal Hydrogen plans to use the facility to build and distribute hydrogen fuel storage capsules and airplane retrofitting kits. The company plans to conduct test flights in 2022 with “commercial flights as early as 2025.” In the realm of test flights, Universal Hydrogen says it will begin using regional turboprop aircraft to test hydrogen fuel systems.