A Tucson clean-tech developer is back at the South Kern Industrial Center with a by-right plan to make hydrogen and ammonia, ten years after its first Kern plant drew a lawsuit.
The Grannus ammonia plant in Kern County is a proposed hydrogen-to-ammonia facility at the South Kern Industrial Center, off South Lake Road southwest of Bakersfield. Grannus LLC filed Site Plan Review 7, Map 158 for equipment that makes oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. Kern County treated the plan as ministerial and filed a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption on July 6, 2026. The filing states no capacity.
Key takeaways
- Kern County filed a CEQA notice of exemption for Grannus LLC’s Site Plan Review 7, Map 158 on July 6, 2026. The State Clearinghouse logged it July 7 as SCH 2026070198.
- The county says ammonia manufacturing is a permitted use in the South Kern Industrial Center, so staff handled the plan as a ministerial approval with no public hearing and no environmental impact report.
- The filing covers four parcels (APNs 220-110-82, -83, -85 and -86) under a 7.3 heavy industrial designation equivalent to M-3. It states no acreage, capacity, cost or job count.
- Grannus first proposed a 250-ton-per-day ammonia plant on a 46-acre site in the same center in 2016. That approval drew a CEQA lawsuit filed Sept. 29, 2016, and the plant missed its 2019 start target.
- Bakersfield industrial availability was 10.1% in Q2 2026, according to national brokerage reports, with one building of about 510,000 square feet under construction marketwide.
Grannus ammonia plant at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Project | Site Plan Review 7, Map 158: facilities and equipment to make oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen for ammonia, with argon and carbon dioxide by-products |
| Location | South Kern Industrial Center, South Lake Road, unincorporated Kern County, California (APNs 220-110-82, 220-110-83, 220-110-85, 220-110-86) |
| Applicant and owner | Grannus LLC, Tucson, Ariz. |
| Jurisdiction | Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department |
| Case numbers | Site Plan Review 7, Map 158; county no. PLC26-00252; SCH 2026070198 |
| Size | Not stated on the county notice (the state CEQAnet database lists 7.3 acres, which may be a data-entry error) |
| Use | Heavy industrial: industrial gases and ammonia manufacturing |
| Zoning | 7.3 (Heavy Industrial) specific plan designation, equivalent to M-3 |
| CEQA | Statutory exemption for ministerial projects (Public Resources Code 21080(b)(1); CEQA Guidelines 15268) |
| Status | Treated as a ministerial approval; notice of exemption received for filing July 6, 2026 |
| Next step | Building, fire and other operating permits; Grannus has not announced capacity, financing or a construction date |
What is the Grannus ammonia plant in Kern County?
It is a proposal by Grannus LLC for “construction of facilities and equipment in support of the manufacturing of pure oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to make ammonia and by-products of pure argon and carbon dioxide,” according to the county’s notice of exemption. The case is Site Plan Review 7, Map 158, county permit PLC26-00252.
The notice names no feedstock or production process. Grannus’s earlier Kern design, described in a November 2016 release, used oxygen-based partial oxidation of natural gas and a pressure swing adsorption unit to make hydrogen, then combined it with nitrogen to make ammonia. The 2026 product list fits that type of plant, but the county filing does not confirm the design.
The notice also gives no acreage, tonnage, building area, cost or job count. The CEQAnet record lists 7.3 total acres. That number also matches the site’s plan designation, so it may be a data-entry error.
How did the Grannus site plan get cleared without a hearing?
The zoning did it. The county’s notice says the site is inside the South Kern Industrial Center, where “the manufacturing of ammonia or chlorine is a permitted use and approval of the proposed project is considered Ministerial.” The site carries a 7.3 specific plan designation “equivalent to an M-3 (Heavy Industrial) zone district.”
In a ministerial approval, staff check a plan against fixed standards rather than exercise judgment. CEQA exempts those approvals. The county cited Public Resources Code Section 21080(b)(1) and CEQA Guidelines Section 15268, so no environmental impact report or Planning Commission hearing was required. CEQAnet shows the notice was received July 7, 2026, and the county’s contact is a division chief in the Planning department.
Grannus builds its business model around this path. Its website advertises a “two-year construction schedule, local ministerial permitting typically 6 to 10 months.” For how entitlement paths differ by site, see our guide to buying industrial land and CEQA in Kern County and the primer on industrial zoning in Bakersfield and Kern County.
Is there still time to challenge the approval?
No. Filing a notice of exemption shortens the deadline to sue over a CEQA exemption to 35 days under Public Resources Code Section 21167(d). Counted from the July 6 and 7 filing dates, that window closed around Aug. 10 to 11, 2026. The sources cited here report no challenge to the approval.
Where is the South Kern Industrial Center, and what has happened there?
The South Kern Industrial Center is a heavy industrial specific plan area near South Lake Road and Santiago Road in western Kern County, southwest of Bakersfield toward Taft. A 2002 supplemental environmental impact report for the plan covered 744 acres in Sections 13 and 24, Township 32 South, Range 25 East. That amendment updated sewer and road provisions and allowed an organic waste composting facility. The plan’s State Clearinghouse file dates to 1991.
Composting is the area’s best-documented use. South Kern Industrial Center, LLC sought to expand the South Kern Compost Manufacturing Facility on a 155-acre parcel at Santiago and South Lake roads, adding digestate feedstocks and raising pile heights from 15 to 20 feet. The county filed its responses to comments on that project in February 2022.
Grannus tried here before
In 2016 the company planned a plant on a “46-acre site in the South Kern Industrial Center” to make about 250 tons of anhydrous ammonia per day. Courthouse News Service reported on Oct. 10, 2016 that the plan also included an 11-megawatt power plant, three wells, an ammonia storage tank and a 6-mile natural gas pipeline.
The county treated that approval as ministerial too, and opponents said it came without a public hearing. Kern County Citizens for Responsible Development and five co-plaintiffs, including California Unions for Reliable Energy, sued the county on Sept. 29, 2016, arguing the project needed an environmental impact report. They cited air quality, the San Joaquin kit fox and Tipton kangaroo rat, nearby faults and a FEMA flood zone. The sources cited here do not say how the case ended.
Neither the 2016 nor the 2026 records say whether the new parcels are part of the earlier 46-acre site.
Who is Grannus LLC?
Grannus says it “was formed and funded in 2012 to develop polygeneration power plants”, meaning plants that make power and chemicals together. CB Insights places the company in Tucson, Ariz. Company releases in 2016 named Matthew Cox as chief executive, and he held that title in a January 2023 release.
In 2016 Grannus lined up Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions for hydrogen technology, Haldor Topsoe for the ammonia loop and Plant Process Equipment as its engineering contractor, according to Ammonia Industry. It billed the Kern plant as the “first ammonia plant built in California in more than 60 years,” with operations expected in 2019. That date passed without construction.
State tax break and a farm co-op partner
The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA) approved a $9,060,579 sales tax exclusion on April 18, 2017, for CALAMCO NH3 LLC. Grannus owned 30% and CALAMCO, a growers’ cooperative, owned 70%. That agreement was terminated after financing delays.
CAEATFA approved a larger exclusion for Taft Ammonia Company, LLC on May 21, 2019, covering $239,234,449 of equipment, with 20 permanent and 100 construction jobs. A Nov. 17, 2020 extension showed Grannus owning 90% and CALAMCO 10%, with the initial term running to May 31, 2024. In that filing the applicant represented that the plant’s near-zero emissions profile meant no air permit was required. The agency’s document noted the company had made no qualified equipment purchases as of October 2020. No record cited here shows the plant was built or the exclusion used.
A second project in San Joaquin County
In January 2023, California Resources Corp. announced a carbon dioxide management agreement with Grannus for a blue ammonia and hydrogen plant in San Joaquin County. The plan called for 150,000 metric tons of ammonia and 10,000 metric tons of hydrogen a year, with 370,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year stored in CRC’s CTV III vault, and an operating target of the end of 2027. Cox called it “California’s first blue ammonia fertilizer production facility.” The sources cited here do not report the project’s current status. Our carbon capture guide covers the permits behind projects like it.
Funding is thin on the public record. CB Insights lists about $2.08 million in disclosed funding, and Ammonia Industry reported a $2 million Series A in April 2015. No financing has been announced for the 2026 Kern filing.
What does a hydrogen and ammonia plant mean for Kern County industrial land?
This is an owner-user plant, not leasable space, so it will not move vacancy directly. The lesson is about entitlements. Land that already allows heavy, hazardous-materials uses by right can move a project at staff level. The same use elsewhere would face a discretionary permit, an environmental impact report and a hearing.
The broader market has room. National brokerage reports put Q2 2026 availability at 10.1% with average asking rent of $0.71 per square foot per month, triple net. Only one project, a 510,000-square-foot building in Arvin, was under construction, against 13.1 million square feet proposed. Regional brokerage data measured vacancy at 9.55% and noted that “specialized and flex properties maintain stronger occupancy and rental rates” than logistics buildings.
Western Kern’s oil fields are drawing other energy and industrial uses. Kern County opened environmental review in June 2025 on Chevron’s Lost Hills solar-to-hydrogen project, about 2.2 tons of hydrogen a day on an 8.93-acre site. Beacon DC has proposed a 275 MW data center campus in the Elk Hills Oil Field; see our report on the Elk Hills data center. Projects like these tend to pull in contractors, fabricators and equipment yards, which favors owners of M-2 and M-3 land with truck access. Heavy industrial land elsewhere in the county is moving too, as in McFarland Annexation 22 and the Mojave Micro Mill.
What happens next for the Grannus plant?
No public hearing is scheduled because none is required. Before operating, an ammonia plant would still need building and fire permits plus any air district and hazardous materials approvals that apply. The sources cited here show no San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District or California Energy Commission record tied to the 2026 filing.
Grannus has not announced capacity, cost, financing or a construction start for the Kern site. Its own model calls for about two years of construction once permits are in hand. Given the 2016 and 2019 targets that slipped, the plant is far from a sure thing until building permits and financing appear.
Frequently asked questions
What is Grannus building in Kern County?
Grannus LLC filed a site plan for facilities that make pure oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to produce ammonia, with argon and carbon dioxide as by-products. The site is at the South Kern Industrial Center off South Lake Road in unincorporated Kern County. The county filed a CEQA notice of exemption for it on July 6, 2026.
Where is the South Kern Industrial Center?
It sits in western Kern County near South Lake and Santiago roads, southwest of Bakersfield toward Taft. A 2002 environmental document put the specific plan area at 744 acres. State tax-incentive records for Grannus’s earlier plan list the site under Taft, and the area also hosts a large composting facility.
Why didn’t the Grannus project need an EIR or a public hearing?
The county says ammonia and chlorine manufacturing are permitted uses inside the center, which carries a heavy industrial designation equivalent to M-3. That made the site plan a ministerial approval. State law exempts ministerial approvals from CEQA, so the county did not have to prepare an environmental impact report or hold a hearing.
How big is the Grannus ammonia plant?
The county notice gives no acreage, capacity, building size, cost or job count. The state CEQAnet database lists 7.3 acres, but that matches the site’s plan designation and may be a data-entry error. For scale, Grannus’s 2016 Kern design called for about 250 tons of ammonia a day on 46 acres.
Has Grannus proposed an ammonia plant in Kern County before?
Yes. In 2016 the company planned a 250-ton-per-day plant on 46 acres in the same center, with operation expected in 2019. A group of residents and unions sued the county on Sept. 29, 2016, over the lack of environmental review. State tax-incentive approvals followed in 2017, 2019 and 2020, but the plant was not built.
What does the plant mean for nearby industrial property?
It will not add leasable space because the owner will use the plant itself. It does show the value of land already zoned for heavy industry, where hazardous-materials uses can win staff-level approval. Energy projects also tend to create demand for contractor yards, fabrication shops and storage nearby.
If you own or lease heavy industrial land in western Kern County, or you are looking for M-3 sites, yards or shop space near the South Kern Industrial Center, call Kern CRE at 855-KERN-CRE (855-537-6273) or contact us. Get Kern County CRE news monthly: subscribe to the Kern CRE report.
Sources
- Notice of Exemption, Site Plan Review 7, Map 158 (Grannus, LLC), PLC26-00252, Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, received July 6, 2026.
- Site Plan Review 7, Map 158, SCH 2026070198, CEQAnet (State Clearinghouse), received July 7, 2026.
- Residents Fight Ammonia Plant Near Bakersfield, Courthouse News Service, Oct. 10, 2016.
- Grannus Selects Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions for Technology and Services at Environmentally Sustainable Ammonia Plant in California, Grannus LLC via PR Newswire, Nov. 2, 2016.
- Kern County, CA (Grannus project profile), Ammonia Industry.
- Staff summary: CALAMCO NH3 LLC sales and use tax exclusion, California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, April 18, 2017.
- Staff summary: Taft Ammonia Company, LLC sales and use tax exclusion, California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, May 21, 2019.
- Staff summary: Taft Ammonia Company, LLC time extension, California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, Nov. 17, 2020.
- California Resources Corporation Announces Carbon Dioxide Management Agreement for CTV’s First Permanent Carbon Storage Project in Northern California, California Resources Corporation, Jan. 4, 2023.
- About, Grannus LLC.
- Grannus company profile, CB Insights.
- South Kern Industrial Center Specific Plan GPA 4, Map 158, CUP 2, Map 158 (Supplemental EIR), SCH 1991122017, CEQAnet (State Clearinghouse), received June 11, 2002.
- South Kern Compost Manufacturing Facility Project (Response to Comments), SCH 2018101060, CEQAnet (State Clearinghouse), received Feb. 4, 2022.
- Notice of Preparation of a Draft EIR, Chevron Lost Hills Solar to Hydrogen Project, Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, June 27, 2025.
- Public Resources Code Section 21167, time limits for CEQA actions, Justia (California Code), 2025.
- Bakersfield Industrial MarketBeat, Q2 2026, Cushman & Wakefield, Q2 2026.
- Q2 2026 Bakersfield, CA Industrial Market Report, Lee & Associates, July 2026.
- Canada’s Beacon DC targets 275MW data center campus on California oil field, DatacenterDynamics, June 24, 2026.
About this article
Kern CRE prepared this article with help from AI research and writing tools. An editor reviewed the draft, checked its facts against the sources linked above and edited it for accuracy and clarity. Details come from public records and the sources cited; unless stated, Kern CRE and ASU Commercial were not involved in the transaction or project.