Overview
A Federal Hub, One Plant Under Construction and Houston Electrolyzer Makers
The US Department of Energy (DOE) selected the HyVelocity Hub in October 2023 as one of seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, with up to $1.2B in federal cost share. Its corporate backers are AES, Air Liquide, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Mitsubishi Power Americas and Ørsted, with GTI Energy as administrator and the Center for Houston's Future, Houston Advanced Research Center, Port Houston and UT Austin as supporters. The hub mixes blue hydrogen, made from natural gas with carbon capture, and green hydrogen, made by electrolysis on renewable power, along the Gulf Coast hydrogen pipelines that serve the Houston Ship Channel.
DOE listed HyVelocity for possible cancellation in October 2025, when it terminated the California and Pacific Northwest hubs, then kept it among five retained hubs in April 2026. HyVelocity had drawn $22M of its award by late 2024. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of July 2025 moved the 45V hydrogen production tax credit deadline: projects must start construction before Jan 1, 2028, instead of 2033.
| Federal hub | HyVelocity Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub |
|---|---|
| Award | Up to $1.2B; $22M drawn by late 2024 |
| Administrator | GTI Energy |
| Core partners | AES, Air Liquide, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Mitsubishi Power, Ørsted |
| Anchor project | Infinium Project Roadrunner, Reeves County |
| Electrolyzer makers | John Cockerill (Baytown), Electric Hydrogen with Titan |
| Research | UT Austin Center for Electromechanics |
| Tax credit | 45V, construction start before 2028 |
Projects
Roadrunner Is Building While the Largest Announcements Stall
Infinium reached financial close with Brookfield Asset Management and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and began construction near Pecos in May 2025. Project Roadrunner pairs a 100 MW Electric Hydrogen electrolyzer with 150 MW of new NextEra Energy Resources wind to make about 23,000 tonnes a year (7.6 million gallons) of electrofuels from green hydrogen and waste carbon dioxide, mainly e-SAF (synthetic sustainable aviation fuel). American Airlines (a 10-year deal) and International Airlines Group (IAG), parent of British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia, are offtakers, with IAG volumes shipped to the UK under its SAF mandate. Infinium's Pathfinder plant in Corpus Christi, running since 2023, supplied the e-SAF for an American Airlines commercial flight in August 2026. See the Trans-Pecos Nexus.
Air Products left its roughly $4.5B green hydrogen venture with AES in Wilbarger County in February 2025 and sold its development rights to its partner; the plant is on hold. ExxonMobil paused its Baytown blue hydrogen plant, designed for 1 billion cubic feet a day, in November 2025 after failing to sign enough offtake.
| Project | Operator | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Roadrunner | Infinium | Pecos, Reeves County | Under construction; operations targeted 2027 |
| Baytown low-carbon hydrogen | ExxonMobil, ADNOC 35% | Baytown, Harris County | Paused November 2025 |
| Wilbarger County green hydrogen | AES | Wilbarger County | On hold; Air Products exited February 2025 |
| Texas Green Ammonia | Synergen Green Energy | Texas, site not public | 240 MW Electric Hydrogen design; FID targeted 2026; 210,000 tons a year of ammonia by end of 2028 |
Electrolyzers and China
Houston-Area Electrolyzer Makers Compete With Chinese Supply
Belgium's John Cockerill broke ground in December 2023 on a 1 GW-a-year alkaline electrolyzer gigafactory in Baytown, its first US plant, planned for 200 jobs. Massachusetts-based Electric Hydrogen, which builds stacks in Devens, partnered in March 2025 with Texas-based Titan Production Equipment to build its HYPRPlant process modules; Electric Hydrogen supplies both Roadrunner and Synergen. Germany's Thyssenkrupp Nucera runs a Houston office and was selected in March 2024 for a $50M DOE grant to automate alkaline electrolyzer production for the US market.
China hosts nearly 70 percent of global electrolyzer manufacturing capacity, about 35 GW a year in 2025 against world demand under 2 GW, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Chinese alkaline systems cost roughly $500-1,100 per kW in 2025, against $1,900-2,500 per kW elsewhere, with makers such as LONGi Hydrogen, Sungrow Hydrogen and Peric bidding in overseas tenders.
Research
UT Austin Runs a Working Hydrogen Proto-Hub
The UT Austin Center for Electromechanics opened a hydrogen proto-hub in April 2024 with GTI Energy under the DOE H2@Scale program. It makes hydrogen by electrolysis on solar and wind power and by reforming renewable natural gas from a Texas landfill, runs a stationary fuel cell supplying the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), and fuels a Toyota Mirai fleet. UT Austin is also a HyVelocity supporter; see UT Austin federal programs.
Record
Dataset Record
- Sources
- US Department of Energy, Energy Capital HTX, Decarbon Fuse, Latitude Media, Infinium, American Airlines, Tech Times, H2 Tech, Renewables Now, John Cockerill, Electric Hydrogen, Titan Production Equipment, Thyssenkrupp Nucera, International Energy Agency, GTI Energy, UT Austin Cockrell School
- Last verified
- October 2026