The City of Lancaster, California, announced that the Lancaster Planning Commission has approved Element Resources' Lancaster Clean Energy Center—a renewable H₂ production facility utilizing photovoltaic (PV) solar for its power supply.

In 2023, the City of Lancaster and Element Resources announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize their partnership. The Lancaster Clean Energy Center is only one step in a long plan to collaborate on developing Lancaster's renewable H₂ infrastructure, supplying H₂ locally, and working with other partners to expand the broader H₂ supply chain. Beyond this, the energy center will bring about 35 new high-paying, permanent jobs to the people of Lancaster and hundreds of highly skilled union positions during the construction phase.

The center will be divided into two sites: the first at 442 acres and the second at 896 acres. Six-hundred-fifty megawatts (MW) of ground-mounted PV solar arrays will power the center with an additional 330 MWhr of long-duration battery energy storage to provide power during times of low solar output. The renewable H₂ production plant will incorporate 400 MWe of H₂ production and liquefied and gaseous H₂ storage. Onsite, there will be two cylindrical tanks and three spherical liquified H₂ storage tanks, facilities for filling H₂ transport trailers and zero-emission H₂ vehicles and trucks, control and office buildings, warehouse and service buildings, and cooling towers.

"We are thrilled to take the next step in our partnership with Element Resources and reap those benefits that come with green energy business development," said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, adding that the Clean Energy Center will bring unprecedented business and economic opportunities to the city. "The new Lancaster Clean Energy Center is going to create multiple high-paying union jobs for our residents. Once again, we see what happens when a city can attract top companies— they invest in the city and provide job prospects for the locals."

"We are delighted to take this next step in the development of the Lancaster Clean Energy Center," said Steve Meheen, Chairman & CEO of Element Resources. "We look forward to working with the City of Lancaster to further this project and generate economic opportunity for the local community and accelerate California's efforts to meet its ambitious emissions targets."