The Desert Gamble That Could Make Hydrogen Reliable

ACES Delta is under construction in Utah, targeting 2025 operations to store large volumes of green hydrogen for future grid reliability

9 Jan 2026

In Utah’s West Desert, a hydrogen experiment is turning into hard infrastructure. The Advanced Clean Energy Storage project, known as ACES Delta, is now under construction and commissioning, with commercial operations slated for 2025. Its ambition is simple to state and hard to execute: prove that hydrogen can help anchor a cleaner, more reliable US power system.

The project is designed to take renewable electricity, use it to produce green hydrogen, and store that fuel deep underground in massive salt caverns. When demand rises, the hydrogen can be pulled back out and used for power generation or industrial needs. At full buildout, ACES Delta centers on about 220 megawatts of electrolyzers, producing roughly 100 metric tonnes of hydrogen a day, with storage capacity that could reach hundreds of gigawatt hours.

That storage piece is the point. Wind and solar power come and go with the weather, while electricity demand does not. Hydrogen has long been pitched as a way to bridge that gap, but only if it can be stored cheaply and safely at scale. Salt caverns offer that possibility, allowing energy produced today to be used weeks or even months later.

The US Department of Energy has repeatedly highlighted salt caverns as one of the most practical options for long duration hydrogen storage. ACES Delta is among the first large projects to test that idea using green hydrogen rather than fossil fuels.

The roster of partners reflects the project’s strategic weight. Chevron New Energies is the majority owner, and Mitsubishi Power Americas is providing turbines built to handle hydrogen. A key future customer is expected to be the Intermountain Power Agency’s IPP Renewed plant, which plans to start with a mix of natural gas and hydrogen and increase hydrogen use over time.

Much remains unproven. The project has yet to run through extended production and dispatch cycles, and hurdles remain around cost, regulation, and suitable geology.

Even so, ACES Delta marks a shift in how hydrogen is being pursued in the United States. If it works as planned, underground storage could turn hydrogen from a promising idea into dependable infrastructure.