Texas hydrogen hub ventures merge as Port of Corpus Christi, Trans Permian seek DOE grant

Two separate plans to develop a regional clean hydrogen hub in Texas were joined into one as the Port of Corpus Christi and Trans Permian announced Tuesday that they’ve teamed up to compete for hotly contested federal grant money.

Backers of the new plan say it joins together existing West Texas energy infrastructure with the port’s existing infrastructure in a “unified framework” that will serve to help meet federal decarbonization goals and develop new clean energy sources and networks.

“This consolidation is a very natural and strategic step for the Port of Corpus Christi, the region and the nation,” the port’s Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer Jeff Pollack said in a news release Tuesday. “West Texas has anchored domestic energy production for decades, with a physical and commercial connection to the Gulf Coast that is the backbone of the nation’s energy economy. Our integrated Hub concept creates the roadmap for diversifying and decarbonizing this historic corridor with the potential to deliver transformative benefits to communities in the Hub.”

The port is taking the lead in moving the joint application to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstration, seeking money from the DOE’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program.

“Our fully integrated Hub represents two-thirds of the state of Texas and every link in the clean hydrogen value chain, from production to community end use,” said MMEX Resources CEO Jack Hanks, whom the news release called the prime sponsor of Trans Permian. “Our capacity to advance federal decarbonization objective and Justice40 Initiative objectives is profound.”

A step in a complex process

Both the port’s plan and Trans Permian’s plan got the go-ahead from DOE to proceed when the Office of Clean Energy Demonstration issued each an “encouraged” finding. Some projects were discouraged from proceeding further, which doesn’t mean that backers won’t go ahead and try anyway for a grant, DOE noted on its website.

The port's news release noted that the DOE “has encouraged both the Port of Corpus Christi Horizons Clean Hydrogen Hub (HCH2) and (Trans Permian) H2Hub to submit full applications through the DOE Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program."

The Trans Permian H2Hub plans include the cities of San Antonio, San Angelo, Big Spring, Midland, Odessa, El Paso, Fort Stockton, Alpine, Presidio and Del Rio, the release stated.

“The planned projects within the Trans Permian H2Hub include production and hydrogen derivatives from diverse feedstocks as well as mobility projects, including hydrogen fuel cell bus manufacturing, hydrogen re-fueling stations, municipal transit projects and freight mobility projects,” the release stated.

The Port of Corpus Christi plans about two dozen clean hydrogen production projects within the proposed Hub.

“The HCH2 Concept Paper, submitted to the DOE on November 7, names approximately 30 private sector team members as owners, developers and/or operators, offtakers, and end users of various hydrogen value chain projects and supporting infrastructure,” the port stated in its release.

Lots of competition, only so much cash

“The Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program — or H2Hubs — includes up to $7 billion to establish six to 10 regional clean hydrogen hubs across America,” DOE states on its website. “As part of a larger $8 billion hydrogen hub program funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the H2Hubs will be a central driver in helping communities across the country benefit from clean energy investments, good-paying jobs and improved energy security.”

The new Texas partnership is far from alone in seeking those federal dollars — there were nearly 80 proposals submitted. One of them is the HyVelocity Hub, which includes GTI Energy, The Center for Houston’s Future, The University of Texas at Austin, Air Liquide and Chevron as founding members, the hub's website states.

"The HyVelocity Hub team submitted a concept paper to DOE in November that outlines how it will accelerate the development of clean hydrogen projects in Texas, Southwest Louisiana, and the U.S. Gulf Coast," the hub's backers stated in a December news release. "Encouragement from DOE indicates that HyVelocity has the potential to be chosen as one of DOE’s 6-10 regional clean hydrogen hubs once full applications are submitted in April 2023."

Another contender for federal funds is next-door-neighbor New Mexico, working along with the states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. They organized what they hope will be a western intermountain regional hub for hydrogen-related energy projects. On Dec. 27 their concept paper, submitted for the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub, got a positive recommendation from federal officials.

New Mexico Environment Department spokesperson Matthew Maez noted at the time that the “encouraged” recommendation issued by the DOE program is only one step in the right direction.

A lot of federal dollars are at stake in a process that drew more bidders than the amount of cash available can handle.

"In September 2022, DOE opened a $7 billion funding opportunity to create clean hydrogen hubs across the country and form a critical arm of America’s future clean energy economy," DOE said in a December overview of the application process. "For the first stage of this process, OCED required Concept Paper submittals and received 79 submissions. In these Concept Papers, applicants requested nearly $60 billion in federal funding — roughly eight to nine times the size of DOE’s $6-7 billion solicitation."

DOE says it will not post the "encouraged" applications online.

The application deadline is April 7. Those getting grants will be selected during the summer of 2023, the DOE website stated.

For more information regarding the H2Hubs program, visit OCED’s H2Hubs webpage, https://www.energy.gov/oced/regional-clean-hydrogen-hubs.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Two Texas hydrogen hub ventures merge to go after DOE grant money