The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstration has encouraged the Port of Corpus Christi Authority to submit a full application for its Horizons Clean Hydrogen Hub (HCH2) through the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program. The Port of Corpus Christi, as the owner of the most efficient ship channel on the US Gulf Coast, is the prime applicant for the HCH2 and serves as the common denominator to each of the roughly two dozen clean hydrogen production projects proposed in the Hub.
The HCH2 Concept Paper, submitted to the DOE on November 7, includes around 30 private sector team members as owners, developers, operators, offtakers, and end users of various hydrogen value chain projects and supporting infrastructure, such as Ambient Fuels, AMMPower, Apex Clean Energy, Ares Management Infrastructure Opportunities funds, Avangrid, Avina Clean Hydrogen, Big Hill, Buckeye Partners, Epic Midstream, Green H2 Energy Partners, Green H2 International, Howard Midstream Energy Partners, Hydrogen Optimized, Magellan Midstream Partners, Mitsubishi Chemical, Monarch Energy, Motus Energy, Pattern Energy, Plug Power, Repsol Hydrogen, Sempra Infrastructure, Trafigura, and Teal Chemistry and Energy.
The HCH2 will connect large-scale clean hydrogen production in the West South-Central US with in-region, extra-regional, and international end users by way of common carrier, connective infrastructure that will de-risk and accelerate multiple projects. The project developers are a combination of established players in the energy marketplace, including long-time Port customers as well as well-capitalized start-ups vetted by the Port.
Hydrogen can be produced using either renewable electricity or natural gas feedstocks, and has long been recognized as a flexible energy carrier with a wide range of applications. Existing operations around the Port of Corpus Christi already use hydrogen as part of the refining process, and a number of other industries may transition to hydrogen as a low-carbon alternative to natural gas to power their operations. The HCH2 projects will use and add to the 110 miles of existing hydrogen pipelines to move hydrogen through the region. When it is to be exported from the Hub by rail or ship, hydrogen is likely to be converted into ammonia, which is a larger, more stable molecule that can either be used directly as an energy source or processed to yield free hydrogen.
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“The Port of Corpus Christi is leveraging its prominence in the energy marketplace to accelerate hydrogen market adoption and realize substantive decarbonization of key industrial sectors,” said Jeffrey Pollack, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer for the Port of Corpus Christi. “We’re building on our long history of community engagement as the economic engine of the region to create new jobs and accentuate community benefits that truly reflect community priorities.”
