MINNEAPOLIS – CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP), Minnesota’s largest natural gas utility, has registered its Minneapolis green hydrogen facility on the M-RETS® Renewable Thermal Tracking System to track renewable thermal certificates (RTCs). CenterPoint Energy’s facility, which began operations earlier this year, is the first-ever green hydrogen facility to register with a tracking system in North America and the company is receiving the nation’s first RTCs issued for green hydrogen.
RTCs are a tool that represents the environmental attributes associated with renewable natural gas and other renewable thermal commodities, including green hydrogen. CenterPoint Energy plans to retire the RTCs generated from its green hydrogen facility on behalf of its customers.
“We are proud to collaborate with CenterPoint Energy on making green hydrogen RTCs available in the M-RETS Renewable Thermal tracking system,” said Ben Gerber, M-RETS President, and CEO. “With new incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, green hydrogen-producing facilities will grow. This is an important step to establishing the market.”
M-RETS manages the RTC platform that validates the environmental attributes of renewable fuels and issues a traceable digital certificate for every dekatherm produced by a renewable thermal generator. RTCs empower buyers to trace and claim renewable fuel consumption from specific facilities across the United States and Canada, allowing them to address the emissions attributable to their natural gas usage.
M-RETS created its Renewable Thermal tracking system in 2020 to increase transparency, spur market development for industries that cannot be electrified, and provide the value and liquidity necessary to support renewable thermal projects. Zero- or low-carbon fuels such as green hydrogen and renewable natural gas offer an alternative to fossil fuels, providing an essential resource for companies to lower their emissions from energy use.
“CenterPoint Energy is committed to evaluating innovative solutions that help reduce emissions to support a cleaner energy future,” said Scott Doyle, Executive Vice President, Utility Operations. “With our green hydrogen pilot facility, we are exploring the potential of this zero-carbon energy resource to supplement the conventional natural gas delivered through our local distribution systems to benefit both our customers and the environment.”
CenterPoint Energy’s green hydrogen system in Minneapolis uses renewable electricity and purified water to produce 60 dekatherms of hydrogen within a 24-hour period. The green hydrogen is added to natural gas in a portion of the utility’s local distribution pipeline system, reducing the carbon impact of the gas when burned.
Last year, CenterPoint Energy announced carbon reduction goals to achieve net-zero emissions for certain scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2035 and to reduce its residential and commercial customers’ scope 3 emissions by 20-30% by 2035. The company also expects to use a new state law in Minnesota, the Natural Gas Innovation Act, as an opportunity to evaluate investments in zero- or low-carbon energy resources and technologies.
Read the most up to date Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Industry news at FuelCellsWorks
About M-RETS®
M-RETS® envisions a future powered by clean, sustainable energy practices that prioritize our environment, stimulate our economy, and help our world thrive. As an innovative not-for-profit organization made up of environmental experts, we help generators and suppliers across North America track generated renewable energy outputs and other sustainable resources to place a dollar value on environmental benefits. Through our online platform and trusted quality data, M-RETS is building the transformational digital infrastructure critical for a thriving, decarbonized economy. To learn more, visit MRETS.org.
About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
As the only investor owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. As of September 30, 2022, the company owned approximately $35 billion in assets. With approximately 8,900 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.
