ABQ Journal: Revolutionary mobile hydrogen plants made in NM hit the market
Originally published by Kevin Robinson-Avila, Staff Writer at ABQ Journal, on May 24, 2020
New Mexico could soon become a global hub for the world’s rapidly emerging hydrogen economy, thanks to technology developed by Albuquerque startup BayoTech Inc.
The company, which was launched in 2015, has built the world’s first compact, mobile, hydrogen generators that can produce hydrogen anywhere, and at a fraction of the cost of today’s massive, centralized facilities.
The company just signed its first commercial contract with Nutrien, which bills itself as the world’s largest supplier of production inputs for agricultural operations. That company will start using BayoTech’s hydrogen generators this year to produce ammonia, and possibly nitrogen fertilizer, which require hydrogen as a base chemical.
BayoTech also forged a new partnership in April with Netherlands-based DLL, a $30 billion subsidiary of Rabobank Group that provides global vendor financing. DLL will market BayoTech’s hydrogen units on credit to end users who lease or rent the generators.
And BayoTech’s newly formed global sales team is lining up contracts worldwide, with $200 million in proposals in the pipeline, said president and CEO Mo Vargas.
“We’ve built a world-class sales team in North America, Europe and East Asia,” Vargas said.
As commercial promotion ramps up, BayoTech and its manufacturing partner, Farmington-based Process Equipment & Service Co., expect to rapidly expand their workforce. BayoTech almost doubled its workforce from 16 to 30 since last year, nearly all of them housed at the company’s 15,000-square-foot facility near Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park. It will hire up to 10 more people this year, and between 20 and 30 in 2021, Vargas said.