Project Bulletin: June 24, 2024

Green hydrogen produced by Meld Energy will meet 30% of the Saltend Chemicals Park’s current hydrogen demand.

Rendering courtesy of Meld Energy

Approval has landed from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council for Meld Energy’s new green hydrogen production facility in England’s port city of Hull. The $304.2 million, 100-megawatt project will be housed at the Saltend Chemicals Park. Its presence in the Humber region, a UK industrial hub which produces most of the country’s carbon emissions, will remove 125,000 tons of CO2 per year. “This outline planning approval is an important milestone for the development of our project, which is the first of several that we will be bringing forward in the Humber and across the UK,” said Meld Energy CEO Chris Smith. “Our Saltend Chemicals Park project will enable decarbonization for our customers on the park and sets the baseline for accelerating and reducing the cost of the energy transition. We couldn’t be more excited with this news and look forward to being able to share more in the coming weeks.”

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Toyota has invested more than $4.7 billion in its San Antonio, Texas site.

Photo courtesy of Toyota

According to Toyota’s official announcement last week, the automotive manufacturer has plans for a new 500,000-sq.-ft. drivetrain parts production facility in San Antonio. This $531 million investment will add 400 new jobs to the Toyota Texas campus. Last year this site produced over 181,000 vehicles. This addition will aim to scale production capacity of models such as the Tundra truck and the all-hybrid Sequoia SUV. “Our team members are ready for this new opportunity to grow our plant’s capabilities and workforce,” said Toyota Texas President Susann Kazunas. “They are highly capable, innovative and have a steadfast commitment to our products. We are proud to celebrate that spirit and the long-term job stability the investment represents, and we are excited to welcome 400 new team members to Toyota Texas.”

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Micron’s new investment into its Hiroshima operations meets an urgent need to expand capacity for HBM products.

Photo courtesy of Micron Technology

Adjacent to Micron Technology’s Fab 15 facility in Hiroshima, Japan, the company now plans to introduce a new DRAM facility by 2027. Fab 15 currently produces high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for front-end wafer production, although due to customer demand its production capacity for 2025 has already been spoken for. The addition of the new $3.7 billion (or more) DRAM plant will aid the company in boosting future production capacity and increase its overall market competitiveness. Once operational, the new plant will focus on DRAM production with an emphasis on HBM products. Micron reports that in collaboration with Taiwan and Japan, this project is the first to use Extreme Ultraviolet lithography equipment, developing a new advanced 1-Gamma process DRAM. Construction and equipment costs are supported by $1.2 billion from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Reports compiled and written by Alexis Elmore with assistance from David Owens, edited by Adam Bruns