H2@scale in Texas and Beyond: Creating a Renewable Hydrogen Energy Network Demonstrating Integrated Hydrogen Production and End-use Technologies

In a U.S. Department of Energy H2@Scale project, GTI Energy—along with Frontier Energy, the University of Texas-Center for Electromechanics (UT-CEM), and almost two dozen industry stakeholders and sponsors—is co-leading a project to design, build, and operate one of the largest collections of renewable hydrogen production, on-site storage, and end-use technologies ever assembled at one site.

This micro-hydrogen ecosystem, located on the UT J.J. Pickle research campus in Austin, serves as a precursor to hydrogen hub development and lays the foundation for expanding hydrogen’s role in decarbonizing Texas. Renewable natural gas, wind, and solar will be converted to hydrogen for use in transportation and commercial applications, including UT’s data center, fuel cell drones, and a fleet of Toyota Mirai FCEVs.

GTI Energy designed and built a steam methane reformer (SMR), a critical piece of equipment for hydrogen generation that is a vital component of the H2@scale in Texas installation. Site construction is nearly complete, and once equipment installation is finalized, the system will be commissioned and operations will commence.

The project also resulted in the development of a hydrogen framework for the state, quantifying potential pathways for the growth of the Texas Gulf Coast hydrogen economy, and modeling the future supply, distribution, and demand of hydrogen in the region. The team assessed techno-economics, policies, and regulations to pave the way for successful implementation using UT Austin’s Hydrogen Optimization with Deployment of Infrastructure (HOwDI) model. The model determines cost-optimal hydrogen infrastructure across Texas and identifies the locations for new hydrogen production technologies as the hub expands to maximize impact.

Port Houston Studies Delivering Results

Two white papers written by the University of Texas as part of the H2@Scale project are now available:

Report Highlights Immense Opportunity for Hydrogen in Texas

A recent Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy study illustrates that Texas is positioned to play a leading role in driving the growth of the hydrogen market:

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