Texas is known for oil but is moving to become a hydrogen fuel giant

The state is seeing substantial investment and research in this branch of clean energy

Texas has long been known as an energy-rich state, but most people don’t think of hydrogen fuel first when they’re calling to mind images of the lone star state.

Oil is usually the top type of energy production most people think of from Texas

As much as Texas is still an oil-heavy state, it is also increasingly mixing its energy sources as it expands, decarbonizes, and adapts to a world that is growing its focus on clean energy. By late this year, John Cockerill, a Belgian engineering firm, intends to have completed its industrial site’s transformation in Bytown, Texas, to become an H2 electrolyzer gigafactory.

The traditional focus on fossil fuels is continuing, but as a part of a growing mix that includes low-carbon and zero-carbon electricity production alternatives.

Texas is becoming a national leader in hydrogen fuel and renewables

Texas is already among the states leading the way in the US for renewable power generation such as wind and solar energy.  As Texas continues to expand its reach into cleaner energy, it has started defining itself in H2 as well.

A recent announcement from the US Department of Energy (DoE) stated that one of the seven successful national candidates to be an H2 hub that will receive some of the total $1.2 billion in federal government funding will be HyVelocity Hub in Texas.  It will be located on the state’s Gulf Coast and will be a new Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub.

Additional projects underway

Air Products and AES Corporation have also already been working on a substantial H2 facility in Texas. They first announced their plans in December 2022, involving a $4 billion plant built along the Texas-Oklahoma border in Wilbarger County.  That facility is expected to begin operating on a commercial scale in 2027.

“This mega-scale renewable-power-to-hydrogen project includes approximately 1.4 GW of wind and solar power generation, along with electrolyzer capacity capable of producing over 200 metric tons per day (MT/D) of green hydrogen, making it the largest green hydrogen facility in the United States,” read a media release issued by AES, which announced their intentions for the plant.