Bankable, not novel.
The technology is new to power generation at this scale. The way a project gets paid for is not: a dedicated project company, senior debt, tax equity, a long-dated power purchase agreement and a service agreement standing behind availability. Every piece is one an infrastructure lender has underwritten before.
The commercial frame
What you actually sign.
A BaseBlue Power plant is a set of long-term contracts around one project company. These are the ones that decide the shape of the deal.
Power purchase agreement
Long-dated and structured as a capacity payment plus variable fees, so the offtaker pays for firm availability rather than for a forecast.
Gas supply, passed through
The project company contracts gas from a midstream operator under a supply agreement whose cost is passed through, so fuel price risk is not buried inside the power price.
Long-term service agreement
Operations, maintenance and stack renewal sit under an LTSA with the fuel cell supplier and the reformer licensor. Availability is a contractual obligation, not a hope.
Tax equity
Federal credits are monetised through a tax equity partner alongside senior debt, which is standard practice for US energy infrastructure.
EPC and engineering
FEED and EPC are contracted by the project company, with the reformer licensor, carbon capture licensor and fuel cell integrator supplying engineering into it.
On pricing
BaseBlue Power does not publish power prices. Pricing depends on the site, the load profile, the gas contract, the CO₂ offtake and the final financing structure, so any number on a public page would be wrong for almost everyone reading it. Pricing is discussed under a mutual NDA, once we know the project.
Structures
One project company, two ways to operate it.
Development and operation are separated deliberately: the risks of getting a project built are not the risks of running it for twenty years, and lenders price them differently.
- Buy powerUnder a power purchase agreement you pay a capacity charge plus variable fees. The project company holds the gas supply agreement on a pass-through basis and carries the conversion.
- Or bring the gasUnder a tolling arrangement you supply the gas and pay for conversion, so commodity exposure stays where it already sits and a partial equity position is possible.
Federal incentives
Two credits the design is built around.
Carbon capture is not bolted on to qualify for something. Pre-combustion capture is part of the reformer design, which is what makes both credits available on the same plant.
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30%
Investment tax credit the fuel cell equipment is eligible for under Section 48E
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$85/tCO₂
Section 45Q credit the CCS-ready reformer design is built to maximise
Eligibility and the amount actually claimed depend on the final project structure, placed-in-service date and prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance. Nothing on this page is tax advice.
Who does what
Each plant is its own project company.
A project company holds the plant and signs the contracts. Every party around it carries the risk it is actually able to carry — which is what makes the structure financeable.
- Project companyHolds the plant. Signs the power purchase agreement, the gas supply agreement and the CO₂ offtake.
- BaseBlue PowerAn HDF Energy project, with development services and fuel cell engineering from HDF Energy and its advisors.
- HDF EnergyFuel cell integrator and module supplier, and the long-term service agreement behind the equipment.
- Technology licensorsThe autothermal reformer and the pre-combustion carbon capture are licensed platforms, each with its own engineering.
- EPC contractorEngineering, procurement and construction, under a contract tendered and negotiated during development.
- Tax equityFinances against the 30 % investment tax credit under Section 48E and the 45Q credit at $85 per tonne of CO₂.
Who structures it
The same team that has financed hydrogen infrastructure before.
Project finance for a first-of-a-kind plant fails on the paperwork far more often than on the physics. HDF Energy has taken hydrogen-to-power projects through that paperwork already.
Bankable structuring
A track record of structuring bankable hydrogen infrastructure projects, not a first attempt at one.
Modelling and capital structure
Financial modelling and equity and debt structuring for large-scale energy projects.
Tax credit modelling
Support on tax credit application and modelling, which is where a US project’s returns are won or lost.
Due diligence
Management of the financial due diligence process end to end.
Advisors
Selection and coordination of the project’s financial advisors.
Capital relationships
Engagement and alignment with infrastructure funds and strategic investors.