Hydrogen Production Takes Center Stage at Amazon’s New Planned Visalia Warehouse

Picture this: forklifts humming around a dock, but instead of plugging into bulky chargers, they line up at a slick hydrogen refueling station. That’s exactly what Amazon is rolling out in Visalia, California. This month, they announced a third warehouse—complete with onsite hydrogen production—in partnership with Plug Power. It’s a clear sign that e-commerce giants and energy-tech firms are teaming up to drive industrial decarbonization forward.

CapRock’s Central Point III: A Modern Logistics Complex

The new Amazon digs will sit inside CapRock Partners’ Central Point park. The latest block, Central Point III, covers 2.7 million square feet across four speculative buildings, all targeting LEED Silver. Building 1 alone is roughly 1.27 million square feet, featuring 274 dock-high doors, two ground-level ramps, and 40-foot clear heights. With ESFR sprinklers, nearly 890 car stalls, a 6,600-square-foot office lounge, and ample trailer parking, it screams Class A. Even before it’s finished, Fortune 100 logistics players are circling—proof that well-connected, cost-efficient space is hot in the Central Valley.

Anchored by UPS for Seamless Connectivity

Right next door, United Parcel Service (UPS) snapped up 88 acres to build a 450,000-square-foot facility—one of its biggest on the West Coast. By tapping into UPS’s massive parcel network, tenants can reach 95% of Californians within a day’s drive and serve over 50 million customers with next-day ground shipping. This high-density logistics cluster supercharges both inbound and outbound flows for everyone in the park.

Plug Power’s Onsite Hydrogen Production

At the heart of Amazon’s green push is Plug Power Inc., which will install and run an onsite plant for hydrogen production. While the exact specs are under wraps, most setups use polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers. They split water into hydrogen and oxygen with electricity—oxygen gets vented safely, and ultra-pure hydrogen is captured on the spot.

Fuel Cell Technology Powers Efficiency

Inside the warehouse, fuel cell–powered forklifts and pallet jacks replace diesel or battery-only models. They refuel in minutes, keeping multi-shift ops humming without the downtime of battery swaps or slow charging. That consistent power—no voltage sag, no efficiency dip—fits perfectly with Amazon’s lightning-fast delivery playbook.

Sizing Up the Project

Building 1 sprawls across roughly 75 acres of the Central Point III site, laid out for smooth truck circulation and rapid turnaround. CapRock’s blueprint includes advanced HVAC controls, skylights to slash lighting loads, water-wise landscaping, and EV charging stalls prepped for future fleet electrification. Permits for Buildings 2 through 4 are already locked in, so they’ll pop up fast as demand climbs.

Strategic and Environmental Upsides

Onsite hydrogen infrastructure isn’t just about cutting fuel costs. It also boosts energy resilience by cutting reliance on delivered fuels—huge when storms or supply hiccups hit. Environmentally, swapping out diesel for hydrogen fuel cells brings clean energy right into the warehouse and slashes local NOx and particulate emissions. Hook the electrolyzer to a low-carbon grid, and the setup could even qualify for credits under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

Business Win for Plug Power

For Plug Power, this project is a win-win. It deepens their partnership with Amazon, shifting their role from just supplying fuel cells and stations to full-blown hydrogen production. Demonstrating scalable onsite production at a high-profile distribution hub gives them a compelling case when other logistics operators start weighing hydrogen infrastructure investments.

Visalia’s Shifting Economic Landscape

Long known for crops and cattle, Visalia is reinventing itself as a logistics hotspot thanks to its central Valley location and major highways like SR 99 and 198. The City of Visalia has been rolling out the red carpet—expedited permits, infrastructure incentives—all to diversify tax revenues and spur job growth. Together, these projects could spawn hundreds of construction gigs and dozens of permanent warehouse roles in Tulare County.

Community and Regulatory Considerations

Of course, adding a hydrogen plant stirs up planning talk. Water for electrolysis, power needs, extra truck traffic, and strict safety codes for high-pressure storage all demand careful oversight. City planners are juggling economic benefits with land-use, health, and safety concerns, especially as more companies set their sights on Central Point.

State and Federal Support on the Horizon

Local leaders are also eyeing state and federal funding for clean-energy infrastructure. Subsidies for electrolyzers and storage could offset upfront costs for onsite hydrogen gear. Agencies on both sides have signaled they’re game to back these moves. Early engagement could help Visalia’s project tap into emerging incentives and shape future hydrogen infrastructure policy.

From CapRock I & II to a Hydrogen-Enabled Future

Central Point’s journey kicked off in 2021 with Buildings I and II—build-to-suit hubs for a Fortune 100 e-commerce giant, widely believed to be Amazon. Those early wins cemented Visalia’s logistics cred. Now, the region’s pairing that momentum with next-level, zero-emission tech.

As CapRock Central Point III takes shape, Amazon’s hydrogen-powered warehouse sets a new bar for sustainable distribution. In a world where speed, flexibility, and decarbonization must coexist, Visalia’s experiment offers a front-row seat to the future of clean energy logistics.