Air Liquide Grows U.S. Gas Projects as EV, Tech Markets Boom

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As developers of electric vehicles (EVs), semiconductors and low-carbon hydrogen technology take advantage of the growing interest in their products, gas services giant Air Liquide (Paris, France) is rushing to keep pace with the demand for specialty gases to fuel the production of battery components, environmentally safer equipment, and other emerging industrial needs. Industrial Info is tracking more than US$4.3 billion worth of active and proposed projects from Air Liquide worldwide, including US$1.45 billion worth of projects in the U.S. and Canada that have a medium-to-high likelihood (70% or more) of beginning construction as planned.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the top 10 countries for active and proposed projects from Air Liquide, by total investment value.

North America remains Air Liquide's top destination for investments, with Texas as the jewel in the crown. The company recently announced it will invest up to US$850 million in the coming years to build, own and operate four large modular air-separation units for a low-carbon hydrogen project in Baytown, Texas. The units are designed to produce a total 9,000 tons per day of oxygen and 6,500 tons per day of nitrogen, which would boost Air Liquide's oxygen production capacity in the Lone Star State by 50%.

The projects were spurred by Air Liquide's recently signed long-term binding agreement with Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Spring, Texas) to supply the latter's proposed blue hydrogen and carbon-capture development in Baytown, which is designed to produce 1 billion cubic feet per day of low-carbon (or "blue") hydrogen while capturing more than 98% of its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Air Liquide and ExxonMobil expect to authorize spending for their projects later this year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Chemical Processing Project Database can read detailed reports on Air Liquide's air-separation units 1 and 2 and units 3 and 4, and ExxonMobil's blue hydrogen project.

"This flagship project is a great illustration of how hydrogen can enable decarbonization of the industry," said Francois Jackow, the chief executive officer of Air Liquide, in a recent quarterly earnings-related conference call. "Air Liquide [will] develop the largest oxygen production platform in the Americas, with the added benefit of being low-carbon oxygen, two-thirds less of a CO2 footprint than current production." He said the Baytown projects "marks the largest industrial [capital expenditure] in the history of Air Liquide."

For more information, including statements from ExxonMobil, see June 27, 2024, article - ExxonMobil Says Baytown Will be a Hydrogen Mega-Producer.

Earlier this year, Air Liquide kicked off construction on a US$150 million air-separation unit addition at its hydrogen plant in Becancour, Quebec, which is designed to produce 850 tons per day of oxygen, with smaller amounts of nitrogen and argon, mainly for manufacturers of battery components for EVs. The project is set to wrap up in the spring of 2025. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report.

Air Liquide also is in the early phases of developing a new air-separation unit at its plant in Clarksville, Tennessee, which is intended to supply LG Corporation's (Seoul, South Korea) $3.2 billion battery materials plant in Clarksville, construction of which started in December. LG's plant is expected to produce 60,000 tons per year of cathode materials for EV battery plants throughout the region. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the air-separation and battery materials projects.

For the rapidly growing semiconductor market, Air Liquide is considering a proposed ultra-pure nitrogen plant in Boise, Idaho, which would supply Micron Technology Incorporated's (NASDAQ:MU) (Boise) $15 billion expansion of its Boise Fab 4 Memory and Semiconductors Campus in Boise, which began construction in October. Micron's expansion is intended to produce memory chips for the automotive industry, data centers and mobile devices. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the nitrogen and semiconductor projects.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active and planned projects worldwide from Air Liquide.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).