Black & Veatch Handling Front-End Engineering to Explore Viability of 60-MW Hydrogen Project Along Texas Gulf Coast

Electrolysis project developer Verdagy is contracting engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm Black & Veatch to lead as front-end engineering and design (FEED) contractor for its 60-MW hydrogen project on the Texas Gulf Coast.

The project will be designed for a production capacity of more than 9,000 metric tons per year of hydrogen. The targeted FEED completion is aiming for this May with a final investment decision in July.

"This project will bring over $150 million of investment to Texas, increase U.S. energy exports and create American jobs and be the precursor to over a gigawatt of upcoming projects in the state,” said Verdagy President Rahul Bammi in a statement.

The project will use Verdagy's eDynamic electrolyzers. Verdagy's electrolyzers are designed and manufactured in the U.S.

Hydrogen (chemical symbol H2) does not contain carbon in its molecular chain and thus does not emit CO2 when combusted. H2 is utilized in numerous industrial applications, including the petrochemical and power generation sectors.

Hydrogen, however, is not easily collected and must be generated industrially by separating from methane natural gas through steam reforming, which is carbon intensive, or by electrolyzers which split the H2 atom from water.

Many energy transition leaders see hydrogen as a decarbonizing baseload fuel, as long as it can be produced with low to no carbon intensity. To be classified as green hydrogen, the H2 must be generated from electrolyzers powered by carbon-free power generation such as solar, wind, hydro and nuclear.

Black & Veatch, which leads construction on both conventional and renewable power plant projects, has gotten involved in several key hydrogen developments in recent years. The EPC firm was named in 2022 to head up the 220-MW Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) development in Delta, Utah. 

The ambitious ACES project, which also includes partners such as Chevron, plans to use renewable energy to create hydrogen, and then use that carbon-free resource to power utility generation for electricity going into western U.S. markets such as Los Angeles.