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Texas automaker invests in first-of-its-kind EV charging station initiative

plugging in

Soon, the country will have IONNA's "Rechargery" locations thanks to the support of Texas-based Toyota and other automakers. Rendering courtesy of IONNA

A charging network founded by eight of the world’s top automakers have announced that they have broken ground on their first electric vehicle charging station.

IONNA will work to transform a historic district gas station into a new "Rechargery" in North Carolina. The initiative is backed by Plano-based Toyota, along with BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, and Stellantis.

With plans to open locations across the country, the station will provide 10 covered parking bays and will be accessible to both CCS and NAC chargers. The charging ports will be capable of up to 400 kilowatts and 800+ Volts. The site will also include an indoor driver’s lounge, coffee service, food/beverage, restrooms, and WIFI.

“We are excited to announce our support of IONNA to deploy DC fast chargers throughout the U.S. and Canada,” Ted Ogawa, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, says in a news release. “We believe this will not only promote the adoption of BEVs and increase customer confidence in the technology, but it will provide our Toyota and Lexus customers with access to IONNA’s rapidly growing charging network in North America.”

IONNA will “enable urban and long-distance EV mobility for all with over 30,000 ultra-fast-and-reliable charging points by 2030” according to the company.

IONNA also announced Jackie Slope as the Chief Technology Officer. Slope previously worked with customer experiences at Crypto.com Arena and Madison Square Garden.

“Having spent my career raising the bar around the customer experience I am excited to find ways to innovate and elevate the charging experience by serving the customer above all else in this new and exciting industry,” Slope said in a news release.

While the North Carolina location is the first of its kind, IONNA plans to expand its Rechargery stations around North America soon.

In other EV news, Hyundai Motor and Kia launched a project on Sept. 25 to develop lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cathode material. Hyundai Steel and cathode material market leader EcoPro BM will aim to synthesize materials directly without creating a precursor for LFP battery cathode material production

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A Houston company has started construction on a Waco-area solar farm. Photo courtesy of INEOS

Houston company breaks ground on North Texas solar project

coming soon

A Houston-area company has broken ground on a new 310-megawatt solar project located in Bosque County, Texas.

League City-based INEOS Olefins & Polymers and Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources announced the groundbreaking on INEOS Hickerson Solar, which will reportedly save over 310,000 tons of CO2 every year.

“INEOS O&P USA is committed to leading the petrochemical community in adopting renewable energy solutions,” says CEO Mike Nagle in a news release. “This solar project is a crucial step in our global efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of INEOS businesses.”

The INEOS Hickerson Solar project will be constructed, owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, and the output will aim to cover the net purchased electricity load for all 14 of INEOS O&P USA’s manufacturing, fractionation and storage facilities. Commercial operation is expected by December 2025.

The project is expected to produce 730,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy annually, which is the equivalent to the annual electricity use of over 68,000 homes. INEOS hopes this will significantly contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 310,000 tons per year.

This follows the recently signed renewable power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy Resources, which is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from wind and sun.

The rig stands 225 feet tall and extends 8,000 feet below the subsurface. Photo via exxonmobil.com

ExxonMobil breaks ground on Texas carbon dioxide storage project

digging in

ExxonMobil announced this month that it has officially broken ground on a groundbreaking carbon dioxide storage site.

According to a release from the company, a new rig is currently being used to gather information about an underground site in Southeast Texas. The rig stands 225 feet tall, but more importantly extends 8,000 feet below the subsurface to investigate if the site is a safe place to store carbon underground.

“Everyone’s excited about this appraisal well because we’re literally breaking ground on a new chapter of our work to help reduce industrial emissions,” Joe Colletti, who oversees carbon capture and storage development along the Gulf Coast for Exxon, says in a statement.

Exxon plans to move the rig to other sites in the Gulf Coast in the future for clients Nucor Corp., CF Industries and Linde.

In the last year, Exxon has made agreements with these regional companies to store carbon captured from their operations.

  • Exxon agreed to transport and permanently store up to 2.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year from Linde’s hydrogen production facility in Beaumont, Texas when it launches in 2025.
  • Exxon agreed to store up to 2 million metric tons per year of CO2 captured from CF Industries’ ammonia plant in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, starting in 2025.
  • Exxon agreed to capture, transport and store up to 800,000 metric tons per year of CO2 from Nucor’s direct reduced iron manufacturing site in Convent, Louisiana starting in 2026.

Together, the three agreements represent a total of 5 million metric tons per year that Exxon plans to transport and store for third-party customers.

“Our agreement with Nucor is the latest example of how we’re delivering on our mission to help accelerate the world's path to net zero and build a compelling new business,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a statement over the summer. “Momentum is building as customers recognize our ability to solve emission challenges at scale.”

In addition to the carbon storage agreements, the energy giant also completed the acquisition of Denbury Inc. this month in an all-stock transaction valued at $4.9 billion. The deal adds more than 1,300 miles, including nearly 925 miles of CO2 pipelines in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi to Exxon's CO2 pipeline network.

The deal was first announced this summer.

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$21.5 billion merger will create Houston-based energy powerhouse

Major Merger

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based Devon Energy has agreed to buy Houston-based Coterra Energy in a $21.5 billion all-stock deal, forming an energy powerhouse that will be headquartered in Houston. The combined company, boasting an enterprise value of $58 billion, will adopt the Devon brand name.

Revenue for the two publicly traded companies totaled nearly $18.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025. Devon is a Fortune 500 company, but Coterra doesn’t appear in the most recent ranking.

The deal, already approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Once the transaction is completed, Devon shareholders will own about 54 percent of the combined company and Coterra shareholders will own 46 percent.

“This transformative merger combines two companies with proud histories and cultures of operational excellence, creating a premier shale operator,” says Clay Gaspar, Devon’s president and CEO.

The combined company will be one of the world’s largest shale producers, with third-quarter 2025 production exceeding 550 thousand barrels of oil per day and 4.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day. A significant presence in the Delaware Basin, encompassing hundreds of thousands of acres, will anchor the company’s operations. The 10,000-square-mile Delaware Basin is in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

The new Devon also will operate in the Permian Basin, located in West Texas and New Mexico; Marcellus Shale, located in five states in the East; and Anadarko Basin, located in the Texas Panhandle, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Gaspar will be president and CEO of the combined company, and Tom Jorden, chairman, president, and CEO of Coterra, will be non-executive chairman.

Houston climatech startup closes $5M seed round to scale copper alternative

seeing green

Houston-based material science and climatech startup DexMat has closed a $5 million seed round.

The round was led by non sibi ventures, with participation from Governance Partners, Tailwind Futures, BetterWay, Capital Factory and other investors. The company additionally announced that it has secured $3 million of non-dilutive funding.

DexMat plans to use the recent round to commercially scale Galvorn, its carbon-based conductive fiber. The high-performance copper alternative, originally developed at Rice University, is made from carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers, which are less energy- and CO2-intensive to produce.

The company says it will grow its technical and commercial teams and advance pilot-scale production to meet demand from new and existing customers in aerospace, defense and manufacturing industries.

"We’re seeing clear customer pull, particularly in wire and cable applications, as manufacturers look for conductive materials that are less dense, more durable, and resilient at scale,” Bryan Guido Hassin, CEO of DexMat, said in a news release. “This funding allows us to meet near-term demand and expand production capabilities in response to evolving supply-chain constraints."

The recent funding comes after a year of impressive growth. According to the news release, DexMat more than doubled its production and sales of Galvorn in 2025 compared to the previous year.

“We consistently hear the same message from customers: the material performs really well, and they need more of it at a lower cost,” Dmitri Tsentalovich, co-founder and CTO of DexMat, added in the release. “This round supports the production scale-up and cost reductions required to move Galvorn into broader commercial use.”

DexMat raised $3 million in funding in a round led by Shell Ventures in 2023. The company reports a 20-fold increase in capacity since its pre-seed round, along with a 96 percent reduction in production costs.

DexMat's technology was originally developed in the Rice University lab of co-founder Matteo Pasquali, who also serves as director of Rice’s Carbon Hub. According to previous reports, the company was built on over $20 million in non-dilutive funding—including grants from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America and the National Science Foundation—with Rice University included in the list of original investors.

Here are 5 must-attend Houston energy events for February 2026

Mark Your Calendar

Editor's note: The second half of February is buzzing with must-attend events for those in the Houston energy sector. We've rounded up a host of events to put on your calendar for the month, with topics ranging from AI in energy to emissions management for a sustainable future. Get the details below, and register now.

Feb. 18-20 — NAPE Summit Week 2026

NAPE is the energy industry’s marketplace for the buying, selling, and trading of prospects and producing properties. NAPE brings together all industry disciplines and companies of all sizes, and in 2026 it will introduce three new hubs — offshore, data centers, and critical minerals — for more insights, access, and networking opportunities. The event includes a summit, exhibition, and more.

This event begins Feb. 18 at George R. Brown Convention Center. Register here.

Feb. 23-25 — AI in Energy Summit

The third annual AI in Energy Summit will bring together 200 senior leaders from the utilities, oil and gas, power generation, and renewables sectors for three days of conversation in Houston, the heart of energy innovation. Attendees will hear directly from operators who’ve taken AI projects from proof of concept to full deployment; learn how make data AI-ready and align AI with business goals; and discover what’s working in GenAI, ML Ops, Agentic AI, and more.

This event begins Feb. 23 at Norris Conference Center. Register here.

Feb. 24-26 — 2026 Energy HPC & AI Conference

The 2026 Energy HPC & AI Conference marks the 19th year for the Ken Kennedy Institute to convene experts from the energy industry, academia, and national labs to share breakthroughs for HPC and AI technologies. The conference returns to Houston with engaging speaker sessions, a technical talk program, networking receptions, add-on workshops, and more.

This event begins Feb. 24 at Rice University's BRC. Register here.

Feb. 25-26 — Energy Emissions Management Conference

The fifth annual Energy Emissions Management Conference is the premier gathering for energy leaders who are committed to staying ahead of the rapidly evolving emissions landscape. The conference aims to foster collaboration, drive technological innovation, and strengthen transparency, supporting organizations in meeting their regulatory obligations and sustainability goals.

This event begins Feb. 25 at Hilton Houston Westchase. Register here.

Feb. 26 — February Transition on Tap

Mix and mingle at Greentown Labs' first Transition on Tap event of the year. Meet the accelerator's newest startup members, who are working on innovations ranging from methane capture to emissions-free manufacturing processes to carbon management.

This event begins at 5:30 pm on Feb. 26 at Greentown Labs Houston. Register here.

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