Cadiz, Inc., a California water solutions company, and RIC Energy, a global renewable energy company, have entered into an agreement to build California's largest green H₂ facility at Cadiz Ranch in the Mojave Desert. Under the agreement, Cadiz will supply land and water to RIC Energy for the creation of industrial quantities of 100% green H₂ using solar energy. Rail lines, pipelines and interstate highways that intersect Cadiz Ranch will deliver green H₂ to Southern California markets to fuel zero-emission trucks, cars and electric generation.

"Cadiz is proud to partner with RIC to bring this important new clean energy facility online," said Cadiz CEO Susan Kennedy. "Cadiz sits at the crossroads of major rail, pipeline, and highway infrastructure in California's Inland Empire with thousands of acres for solar and an aquifer system larger than Lake Mead. It is the ideal location for green H₂ production - the largest H₂ production facility in California."

RIC Energy chose the Cadiz area for its first U.S. facility after a six-month diligence process that evaluated several locations across the state. Plans call for a self-sufficient, integrated, off-grid green H₂ production facility utilizing photovoltaic (PV) solar for its power supply on up to 3,000 acres of the Cadiz Ranch. The new facility is expected to feature a combination of state-of-the-art technologies to create green H₂, complying with the strictest regulations of IRA's Section 45V, using onsite Cadiz water resources and fully renewable electricity generated from a local solar array. Cadiz will supply up to 500 acre-feet of water per year for H₂ production. Cadiz, in turn, will be able to use green H₂ and solar to power its water supply and groundwater banking operations.

"This is an exciting opportunity for RIC Energy," said Jonathan Rappe, CEO of RIC Energy North America.  "We have clean energy facilities in 14 countries on four continents, but this partnership with Cadiz is unique. In a single location that is close to roads, train lines and pipelines we have all the water, land and sun right at hand to build and operate what will be one of the world's largest self-sufficient green H₂ facilities to date."