Hitachi Energy joins US DOE’s ‘H2@Scale in Texas and Beyond Project’ to advance the production and use of renewable hydrogen

Hitachi Energy has joined the US Department of Energy’s ‘H2@Scale in Texas and Beyond’ initiative with GTI Energy, Frontier Energy, The University of Texas Austin, and other industry stakeholders and partners. For the project, Hitachi Energy is contributing its market-leading expertise in integrating utility-scale renewable energy sources with power grids and managing and orchestrating a variety of energy sources.

The ‘H2@Scale' project includes multiple hydrogen production options, such as a vehicle refueling station alongside a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Most of the project’s activities are situated at the University of Texas JJ Pickle Research Center in Austin, Texas, aiming to investigate the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of hydrogen generation from renewable resources. The project represents one of the largest collections of renewable hydrogen production, onsite storage, and end-use technologies to be located at one site, laying the foundation for expanding hydrogen’s role in decarbonizing Texas.

Clean hydrogen is key to the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors such as metals, fertilizers, chemicals and oil and gas, while also electrifying remote construction sites and providing clean backup power where it is needed. Clean hydrogen production is an energy intensive process, where electricity plays a central role.

Hitachi Energy is present in the full hydrogen value chain from early-stage project origination and design, due diligence and planning to ensuring grid compliance, power conversion systems and asset management solutions. The company is a global leader in power grids serving utility, industry, and infrastructure sectors across the value chain with over 10 manufacturing locations throughout North America and R&D Centers in Raleigh, NC and Montreal, QC.

Hitachi Energy researchers and experts will be directly involved with the operation of demonstration equipment, the installation of non-invasive monitoring equipment, as well as procedure and application development to contribute to the monitoring, control, and optimization of the overall demonstration site system. Hitachi Energy’s collaboration with the H2@Scale team will help gather critical data and insights on power quality, optimized system design and site operation that will enable future large-scale hydrogen plants.

Project teams will undertake feasibility studies for scaling up hydrogen production and use, aiming to benefit the development of a strategic plan and implementation of the ‘H2@Scale’ project in the Port of Houston and Gulf Coast region. These teams will also assess opportunities to leverage pre-existing hydrogen pipelines, prospective hydrogen users, and large networks of concentrated industrial infrastructure to identify environmental and economic benefits of hydrogen deployment in the region.