Synthetic Energy, Inc., a pilot facility for the commercial production of hydrogen, was incorporated in Idaho in 2005 pursuant to the award of a USDA Rural Development grant. The project includes: a 1,200 sf metal structure, two 50 kW Entegrity (EW-15) wind turbines; two Proton H 240 hydrolysers; and associated water purification, chiller and compression equipment. It is located on 160 acres of unimproved M-2 land (zoned heavy industrial) approximately 20 minutes from Boise International Airport. Synthetic Energy has produced and sold over 15M scf of high purity hydrogen to a local industrial gas supplier since operations commenced in June 2006. Monthly output was typically two tankers, or about 300,000 scf of hydrogen per month. The wind turbines were utilized, on a net metering basis, to partially offset the electrical power expense. Operations were discontinued in February, 2014 and currently the facility requires equipment updating. The plant, land and equipment is available for sale «as-is» for $350,000.

Pursuant to its Conditional Use Permit, the Synthetic Energy site was entitled for commercial hydrogen production. Although it’s only 20 minutes south of Boise the rural location is well suited for renewable energy research and/or industrial projects. The land is located in Elmore County within a larger tract (approx 1,800 acres) of industrial zoned land between Hwy 84 to the east and the Union Pacific RR one-half mile to the west. The parcel is accessed by a graded easement road and has power (480 3phase) only — no water or sewer. The facility occupies less than two acres of the parcel, the remainder is unimproved land currently used for grazing. Both Entegrity turbines are on 100′ steel latice towers. The area is rated Class 3 in general mixed with Class 2 areas. There are several large commercial wind farms in the surrounding counties.

The plant has not been in full production since February, 2014. The equipment is in varying stages of operational function: one turbine has a broken tip brake and may be best suited for spare parts: the net metering agreement with Idaho Power has been suspended subject to a recertification of the Schweitzer switch; one Proton unit requires replacement of power source fuses, etc. The plant was designed to operate automously and contains video survailiance cameras and Hughes Network uplink dish for internet monitoring of the turbines, hydrolysers and chiller equipment. The building is separated into two rooms; the control room with the turbine control panels, video gear, furnace and main electrical panels, and; the equipment room with the hydrolysers and water tank/purificaion equipment. The Carrier chiller(18 ton) is located on a pad behind the building and the Pdc 3,000 psi diaphram compressor is located on a separate pad 100′ from the building adjacent to a tanker bay. Water use at the plant was less than 75 gallons per day so water was trucked in bi-monthly. There are no water rights with the land although local developers have secured transferable rights at market costs.

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