Demonstrating and Deploying Hydrogen Technologies for Clean and Resilient Energy in Army Installations

Secure and reliable access to energy is essential for our military to deploy, fight, and win in a complex world, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and its associated Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) are focused on identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities to avoid disruption of utility services.

CERL is partnering with GTI Energy to execute a new Hydrogen Energy Research Operation (HERO) program aimed at increasing resiliency and advancing decarbonization goals at Army installations.

HERO’s mission is to integrate state-of-the-art systems that span hydrogen production, delivery, storage, and end use and demonstrate a viable framework that can be replicated globally to ensure continuity of essential infrastructure.

The first two-year phase of the program will test and evaluate equipment performance, generate a digital twin, and establish safety protocols. Technologies will be validated at GTI Energy’s facilities and a virtual reality (VR) training tool will be developed.

Based on results of the assessments, GTI Energy will develop an engineering design for an Army pilot facility installation, prioritizing technologies that can be optimized and deployed based on mission needs for hydrogen generation, storage, distribution, and use in heat and power equipment and mobility applications. Future phases will build on outcomes of the initial installation to expand hydrogen technologies solutions across a wider range of DoD facilities.