power move

DOE grants $13.7M tax credit to power Houston clean hydrogen project

Permascand USA's new Houston facility will manufacture high-performance electrodes from new and recycled materials. Photo via Getty Images

Permascand USA Inc., a subsidiary of Swedish manufacturing company Permascand, has been awarded a $13.7 million tax credit by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to expand across the country, including a new clean hydrogen manufacturing facility in Houston.

The new Houston facility will manufacture high-performance electrodes from new and recycled materials.

"We are proud to receive the support of the U.S. Department of Energy within their objective for clean energy," Permascand CEO Fredrik Herlitz said in a news release. "Our mission is to provide electrochemical solutions for the global green transition … This proposed project leverages Permascand’s experience in advanced technologies and machinery and will employ a highly skilled workforce to support DOE’s initiative in lowering the levelized cost of hydrogen.”

The funding comes from the DOE’s Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit program, which focuses on clean energy manufacturing, recycling, industrial decarbonization and critical materials projects.

The Permascand proposal was one of 140 projects selected by the DOE with over 800 concept papers submitted last summer. The funding is part of $6 billion in tax credits in the second round of the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit program that was deployed in January.

So far credits have been granted to approximately 250 projects across more than 40 states, with project investments over $44 billion dollars, according to the Department of Treasury. Read more here.

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A View From HETI

Sage Geosystems has selected a site for its next major geothermal facility. Photo via sagegeosystems.com

Sage Geosystems, a Houston-based developer of geothermal power systems, has chosen a site in Nevada for its commercial-scale Project Vector facility.

The company’s two-well enhanced geothermal system (EGS) will deliver around-the-clock geothermal heat to Ormat Technologies’ Blue Mountain geothermal power plant in Winnemucca, Nevada.

The startup expects to begin drilling the first well later this year, with the first electricity to be generated in 2027 and full-scale production to start in 2028.

In the Nevada system, fluid will circulate through an engineered subsurface reservoir, absorb heat from the surrounding rock and return heat to the surface. The heat will be delivered to the Blue Mountain plant for conversion into electricity.

Project Vector builds on the performance of Sage’s SMECI facility in South Texas. That facility’s results, combined with Sage’s digital twin platform, will be used to shape to the design and development of Project Vector.

Project Vector supports Sage’s growing commercial pipeline, including a 150-megawatt geothermal power agreement with Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

“Blue Mountain is an ideal location for Sage to take the next step in continuing to commercialize our proprietary EGS approach,” Jason Peart, chief operating officer at Sage, said in a release. “By delivering geothermal heat into an existing power plant, Project Vector can demonstrate the model for bringing firm, 24/7 geothermal power to market at scale.”

Project Vector extends Sage’s relationship with Ormat.

In August 2025, Sage and Ormat agreed to accelerate commercialization of Sage’s geothermal technology at an Ormat power plant. This January, Ormat co-led Sage’s $97 million Series B funding round.

Sage, founded in 2020, has raised about $159 million across three funding rounds.

As the startup ramps up its ESG platform, Sage is targeting data centers as customers, among other large-scale users of electricity.

“The energy needs are huge, and they need it now,” CEO Cindy Taff said on Data Center Frontiers’ podcast. “They can’t depend on the grid anymore.”

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