Federal government schemes to kickstart a hydrogen economy in the US, including $8bn for four regional hydrogen hubs in last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, appear to be bearing fruit.

In early March, startup Green Hydrogen International (GHI) announced its 60GW Hydrogen City project, the largest single-site green hydrogen project in the world, set to be built in a sparsely populated area in South Texas 90 miles west of Corpus Christi. The Austin, Texas-based company is targeting the first 2GW phase of the project to begin operation in 2026.

To support its ambitious timeline and targets, in late April GHI signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hydrogen Optimized—a subsidiary of privately owned Key DH Technologies—for development of a massive manufacturing facility to produce Ruggedcell electrolysers in Texas.

To learn more about this MoU, as well as the role government programmes are playing to move forward projects such as Hydrogen City, Hydrogen Economist interviewed Andrew Stuart, president and CEO of Ontario-based Hydrogen Optimized.

How did your MoU with GHI for its Hydrogen City project come about?

Stuart: At a high level, the foundation of this MoU reflects the synergies between the very large-scale green hydrogen requirements of GHI and its prospective customers, and the uniquely large-scale green hydrogen production capabilities of Hydrogen Optimized’s Ruggedcell technology. GHI founder and CEO Brian Maxwell put it best in the MoU announcement when he said: “The Ruggedcell design is the ideal solution for large-scale hydrogen projects like Hydrogen City.”

Your proposed manufacturing facility is to be built in stages, with an ultimate target of 5GW/yr of electrolyser production, with GHI intending to purchase the facility’s entire output for the first ten years of operation. What hoops must Hydrogen Optimized jump through to move this agreement from MoU to a positive FID?

Stuart: The key factor to get to a contractual agreement will be GHI’s progress in securing offtake agreements for the green hydrogen to be produced at Hydrogen City.

The size of your proposed Texas plant is substantially larger than the 2GW plant you are building in Owen Sound, Ontario for direct sales of your Ruggedcell electrolysers to clients. What are the key reasons for the proposed Texas plant being substantially larger than the one in Ontario?

2GW – Capacity of Hydrogen City’s first phase

Stuart: Our plan from the start has been to build manufacturing capabilities and capacity first in our Owen Sound, Ontario facility. We anticipate this facility would meet the initial Ruggedcell requirements for Hydrogen City.

As those requirements grow in line with GHI’s vision, we would step up production in Texas, in keeping with our strategy to locate satellite plants in markets worldwide as warranted by local demand. Based on our own recent discussions with several potential offtakers in Texas, there appear to be significant and growing opportunities in that market.

What role are US government incentives playing in your decision to build the manufacturing facility in Texas?

Stuart: The biggest consideration in locating any future Ruggedcell plant is local market demand for green hydrogen. Government support for new green hydrogen manufacturing and production facilities can also play a role, such as the US government’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which includes $8bn for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs.

What are these incentives and how do they differ from what’s presently available in Canada?

Stuart: We will be working with GHI to seek US Department of Energy funding. As we advance to site selection we will, like any other business, gain a better understanding of what programmes and incentives exist to drive location, timing and green job creation.

At a broader level, governments all over the world are providing economic support for green hydrogen as recognition grows of the key role it will play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We are encouraged by the programmes available on both sides of the Canada-US border, ranging from technology and manufacturing development funding to capital funding for green hydrogen production.

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Author: Vincent Lauerman