Global energy transition management consulting firm Partners in Performance announced it was tapped by the Center for Houston’s Future (CHF) to assess Houston’s potential as a hub for H₂ and H₂ equipment manufacturing. The resulting report, “Houston’s Future as a Global Center for Clean H₂ Manufacturing, Recycling and Electrolysis” offers an in-depth analysis of the city’s strategic advantages for becoming a global H₂ energy hub.

Its findings conclude that establishing a global H₂ energy hub to create H₂ electrolyzers, storage, and delivery infrastructure is a massive economic opportunity for the city. It offers recommendations for the city to encourage and accelerate this opportunity to cement Houston’s position as a leader for H₂ production planning, manufacturing and development across the U.S. and potentially the world.

The Center was commissioned as a think tank to innovate for the future of the Houston metropolitan area. Bringing together strategic planning, business and civic leadership development and community engagement, the organization commissioned this research project on Houston’s viability as a global center for clean H₂ manufacturing, recycling, and electrolysis—essentially replicating the massive gold rush Houston saw in the early 20th century at the dawn of the petrochemical industry.

“Houston is a preeminent global center for the energy industry, from exploration & production to finance to infrastructure,” said Brett Perlman, CEO at Center for Houston’s Future. “As the world demands a move to clean, renewable energy sources, it is essential that we transition Houston’s commercial and industrial base to producing and delivering the green H₂ energy that will be as vital a part of our energy future as fossil fuels are today.”

Manufacturing of H₂ as an energy source is expected to increase almost 200x from today’s levels by 2050, and the U.S. is projected to exceed 100 Megatons per year, approximately 20% of the global market. The Partners in Performance study found that Houston is particularly well-suited to play an outsized role in the U.S. market for several reasons:

• The city is already a center for industrial manufacturing – the infrastructure exists, and it can be repurposed.
• Abundant warehouse, land and logistics support make Houston an attractive area to which innovators and newcomers can move operations.
• Plentiful access to highly skilled labor pool. The existing oil & gas workforce in the area that can be easily reskilled to work in clean H₂ exceeds, by some accounts, 175,000 persons.

“Houston is well-suited to become a U.S. H₂ leader because its status in the world energy community is based on its ability to supply equipment and planning to best utilize resources regionally, nationally, and globally,” said Roy Hunt, principal in Energy Transition at Partners in Performance.

However, realizing the fullest potential of the U.S. H₂ industry will require more than one metropolitan area. The study found that other metropolitan areas or regions with similar circumstances to Houston could also spring up as H₂ opportunity zones and provide similar and complementary services and industries. For instance, the Northeast area has a large skilled workforce and a density of research institutions unsurpassed anywhere in the country. Innovation laboratories and private sector R&D focusing on H₂ could contribute huge economic booms to this area.

The study found other heavy manufacturing areas as desirable locations for conversion to H₂ electrolyzing, engineering and construction. Converting existing manufacturing facilities is preferable to greenfield (new) construction. Additionally, these mothballed facilities often come with tax incentives to reopen and reinvigorate local economies with jobs, making them even more appealing.

“Partners in Performance is proud of our work supporting the Center for Houston’s Future in their foundational role in the H₂ Economy,” said Chris Millican, director. “We have moved from curious to convinced that Greater Houston is uniquely positioned to be a pathfinder for companies scaling up production within the electrolyzer manufacturing and H₂ supply value chain. The report indicates that the Greater Houston area has a head-start and strengths in the H₂ market that will allow existing and new companies to break through challenges and establish a growth base for this new energy opportunity.”

The first steps in Houston’s path toward its H₂ future involve electrolyzer manufacturing, an industry that is already well underway in the area. The report examines this and other industry-adjacent concerns in greater detail, and outlines paths that Houston and other cities can take to ensure the U.S. remains a leader in clean energy production for decades to come.

“We are very proud of the work our entire team has put into this exhaustive report for the Center for Houston’s Future,” said Robert MacIntosh, senior manager in Energy Transition, Partners in Performance. “Houston is a vibrant leader in energy and is highly competitive in wanting to stay at the top. We feel strongly that the planning CHF has put into answering this question will keep them there.”