ExxonMobil pauses plans for $7B hydrogen plant in Baytown

project on pause

ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said the company was weighing whether it would move forward with a proposed $7 billion low-hydrogen plant in Baytown this summer. Photo via exxonmobil.com

As anticipated, Spring-based oil and gas giant ExxonMobil has paused plans to build a low-hydrogen plant in Baytown, Chairman and CEO Darren Woods told Reuters.

“The suspension of the project, which had already experienced delays, reflects a wider slowdown in efforts by traditional oil and gas firms to transition to cleaner energy sources as many of the initiatives struggle to turn a profit,” Reuters reported.

Woods signaled during ExxonMobil’s second-quarter earnings call that the company was weighing whether it would move forward with the proposed $7 billion plant.

The Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act established a 10-year incentive, the 45V tax credit, for production of clean hydrogen. But under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the period for beginning construction of low-carbon hydrogen projects that qualify for the tax credit has been compressed. The Inflation Reduction Act called for construction to begin by 2033. The Big Beautiful Bill changed the construction start time to early 2028.

“While our project can meet this timeline, we’re concerned about the development of a broader market, which is critical to transition from government incentives,” Woods said during the earnings call.

Woods had said ExxonMobil was figuring out whether a combination of the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture projects and the revised 45V tax credit would enable a broader market for low-carbon hydrogen.

“If we can’t see an eventual path to a market-driven business, we won’t move forward with the [Baytown] project,” Woods told Wall Street analysts.

“We knew that helping to establish a brand-new product and a brand-new market initially driven by government policy would not be easy or advance in a straight line,” he added.

ExxonMobil announced in 2022 that it would build the low-carbon hydrogen plant at its refining and petrochemical complex in Baytown. The company had indicated the plant would start initial production in 2027.

ExxonMobil had said the Baytown plant would produce up to 1 billion cubic feet of hydrogen per day made from natural gas, and capture and store more than 98 percent of the associated carbon dioxide. The plant would have been capable of storing as much as 10 million metric tons of CO2 per year.

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Texan Elon Musk stands to benefit from the next president. Photo via cdn.britannica.com

Election results buoy stock at Texas-based Tesla

seeing dollar signs

Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its Texas-based CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The grant, funded by the federal Inflation Reduction Act, will help promote cleaner air, reduced emissions, and green jobs. Photo via Getty Images

Port Houston secures $3M from EPA program to fund green initiatives, clean tech

money moves

Port Houston’s PORT SHIFT program is receiving nearly $3 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program.

The grant, funded by the federal Inflation Reduction Act, will help promote cleaner air, reduced emissions, and green jobs.

“With its ambitious PORT SHIFT program, Houston is taking a bold step toward a cleaner, more sustainable future, and I’m proud to have helped make this possible by voting for the Inflation Reduction Act,” U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia says in a news release.

“PORT SHIFT is about more than moving cargo — it’s about building a port that’s prepared for the future and a community that’s healthier and stronger,” Garcia adds. “With investments in zero-emission trucks, cleaner cargo handling, workforce training, and community engagement, Port Houston is setting the standard for what ports across America can accomplish.”

Joaquin Martinez, a member of the Houston City Council, says one of the benefits of the grant will be ensuring power readiness for all seven wharves at the Bayport Container Terminal.

The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $3 billion to the EPA’s Clean Ports Program to fund zero-emission equipment and climate planning at U.S. ports.

A report Wednesday by the Carbon Removal Alliance, a nonprofit representing the industry, outlined recommendations to improve monitoring, reporting, and verification. Photo via Getty Images

Carbon removal industry calls on U.S. government for regulation in new industry report

by the numbers

The unregulated carbon dioxide removal industry is calling on the U.S. government to implement standards and regulations to boost transparency and confidence in the sector that's been flooded with billions of dollars in federal funding and private investment.

A report Wednesday by the Carbon Removal Alliance, a nonprofit representing the industry, outlined recommendations to improve monitoring, reporting, and verification. Currently the only regulations in the U.S. are related to safety of these projects. Some of the biggest industry players, including Heirloom and Climeworks, are alliance members.

“I think it’s rare for an industry to call for regulation of itself and I think that is a signal of why this is so important,” said Giana Amador, executive director of the alliance. Amador said monitoring, reporting and verification are like “climate receipts” that confirm the amount of carbon removed as well as how long it can actually be stored underground.

Without federal regulation, she said “it really hurts competition and it forces these companies into sort of a marketing arms race instead of being able to focus their efforts on making sure that there really is a demonstrable climate impact.”

The nonprofit defines carbon removal as any solution that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it permanently. One of the most popular technologies is direct air capture, which filters air, extracts carbon dioxide and puts it underground.

The Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have provided around $12 billion for carbon management projects in the U.S. Some of this funding supports the development of four Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs at commercial scale that will capture at least 1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Two hubs are slated to be built in Texas and Louisiana.

Some climate scientists say direct air capture is too expensive, far from being scaled and can be used as an excuse by the oil and gas industry to keep polluting.

Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School at Columbia University, said this is the “moral hazard” of direct air capture — removing carbon from the atmosphere could be utilized by the oil and gas industry to continue polluting.

“It does not mean that the underlying technology is not a good thing,” said Wagner. Direct air capture “decreases emissions, but in the long run also extends the life of any one particular coal plant or gas plant.”

In 2023, Occidental Petroleum Corporation purchased the direct air capture company, Carbon Engineering Ltd, for $1.1 billion. In a news release, Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub said, “Together, Occidental and Carbon Engineering can accelerate plans to globally deploy (the) technology at a climate-relevant scale and make (it) the preferred solution for businesses seeking to remove their hard-to-abate emissions.”

Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, doesn't consider carbon dioxide removal technologies to be a true climate solution.

“I do welcome at least some interventions from the federal government to monitor and verify and evaluate the performance of these proposed carbon removal schemes, because it’s kind of the Wild West out there,” said Foley.

“But considering it can cost ten to 100 times more to try to remove a ton of carbon rather than prevent it, how is that even remotely conscionable to spend public dollars on this kind of stuff?” he said.

Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist of The Nature Conservancy and a distinguished professor at Texas Tech University, said standards for the direct carbon capture industry “are very badly needed” because of the level of government subsidies and private investment. She said there's no single fix for the climate crisis, and many strategies are needed.

Hayhoe said these include improving the efficiency of energy systems, transitioning to clean energy, weaning the world off fossil fuels and maintaining healthy ecosystems to trap carbon dioxide. On the other hand, she said, carbon removal technologies are “very high hanging fruit.”

"It takes a lot of money and a lot of energy to get to the top of the tree. That’s the carbon capture solution,” said Hayhoe. “Of course we need every fruit on the tree. But doesn’t it make sense to pick up the fruit on the ground, to prioritize that?”

Other climate scientists are entirely opposed to this technology.

“It should be banned,” said Mark Z. Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University.

Carbon removal technologies indirectly increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Jacobson said. The reason, he said, is that even in cases where direct air capture facilities are powered by renewable energy, the clean energy is being used for carbon removal instead of replacing a fossil fuel source.

“When you just look at the capture equipment, you get a (carbon) reduction," Jacobson said. "But when you look at the bigger system, you’re increasing.”

Empact’s goal is to help energy companies maximize the tax credits for their clean energy projects. Photo courtesy of Empact

Houston software company equips green project developers with IRA compliance tools

Tax credits, anyone?

A Houston company has an update to its first-of-its-kind software to assist emerging technology and energy companies with Inflation Reduction Act Energy Community Bonus Credit compliance management and reporting requirements for renewable energy projects.

Empact Technologies has released a software update that incorporates support for the latest IRA Energy Community Bonus management and reporting requirements. The new software is provided at no additional cost to existing Empact clients, and is available to qualified communities through a free trial via Empact’s website.

Empact’s goal is to help energy companies maximize the tax credits for their clean energy projects.

“Empact is the first (and only) company that provides technology and services to help the project developers qualify for and ensure compliance with all of those IRA tax incentive compliance requirements,“ CEO Charles Dauber tells EnergyCapital. “We work with project developers of solar, energy storage, carbon capture and sequestration, and other projects in ERCOT and around the country to manage compliance for the PWA, domestic content, and energy community compliance requirements and make sure they have all of the documentation required to prove to the IRS that these tax credits are valid.”

The software is the first in the industry to incorporate the most recent energy community guidelines released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, known as Notice 2024-48. These guidelines outline Energy Community Bonus qualification requirements for the “Statistical Area Category” and the “Coal Closure Category” in Notice 2023-29.

Empact’s platform will provide tax incentive compliance management for all three types of credits, which will be covered in the IRA’s estimated $1.2 trillion in tax incentives. The credits include a base energy project tax incentive (30 percent) for projects that meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements, a domestic content tax adder (10 percent), and an energy community tax adder (10 percent). Notice 2024-48 is able to be used by developers to confirm project qualification for Energy Community Bonus opportunities.

Empact will support clients on eligibility requirements, manage compliance documentation and verification requirements.

“The IRA is considered the greatest and biggest accelerator for clean energy in the U.S.,” Dauber says. “The IRA provides significant tax incentives for developers of solar, energy storage, wind and other clean power technologies, as well as energy transition projects such as carbon capture and sequestration, hydrogen, biofuels and more.”

According to Empact, the way the IRA works is that developers of projects can “generate” tax credits based on meeting certain project requirements. There are three main factors in play:

The foundational element of the tax credits provides a 30 percent tax credit of the project cost if the project meets requirements related to ensuring a fair wage for construction workers and utilizing a certain amount of apprentices on the project (called Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship). The project developer (all the EPC and all contractors) must provide documentation that every worker has been paid correctly and that all apprenticeship requirements have been met. Some projects have hundreds of workers from 10-plus contractors every week.
The second tax credit relates to the project utilizing steel and iron and other “manufactured products” such as solar modules, that are made in the U.S. If the project meets the “domestic content” requirements, it is eligible for another 10 percent tax credit. Project developers have to prove the products they use are made in the U.S. and there are calculations that must be done to meet the threshold that goes up every year.
The third tax credit is related to the location of the project. The government is trying to incentivize project developers to put projects in locations with high unemployment, or sites that have existing power generation facilities, or are in areas that used to be coal communities. That tax incentive is called “Energy Communities” and provides an additional 10 percent tax credit for the project developers. To qualify for that tax credit, the developer must provide proof that the project is located in an energy community location.

Companies that remain in compliance by using the software will see immediate benefits, and the clean energy industry as a whole will benefit from Empact’s facilitation of tax credit utilization.

“If a developer does this all correctly, they can qualify for tax credits equal to 50 percent of the cost of the project which is an enormous benefit to getting more projects built and encouraging a balanced energy program in the U.S.” Dauber says. “For example, a 100MW solar farm may cost $100 million, and if they meet all of the criteria, they can qualify for $50 million in tax incentives. The same calculations work for carbon capture, hydrogen and other projects as well although there are some slight differences.

Last August, Stella Energy Solutions, a utility-scale solar and storage developer, entered into a multi-year agreement with Empact to use the platform to manage Stella's IRA tax incentives on all its projects for the next five years.

The lighting project is part of a 15-year initiative aimed at boosting Calhoun County’s commitment to solar and other forms of renewable energy. Photo via EnGoPlanet

Houston company nears completion of innovative solar-powered street lights project

light the way

Houston-based EnGoPlanet is nearing completion of what it touts as the largest installation of solar-powered street lights in the U.S.

The project, which relies on EnGoPlanet’s ENGO Utility program, is in Calhoun County. It features 300 solar-powered, motion-activated street lights and 20 camera-equipped power poles at several Calhoun County parks. Port Lavaca, close to 130 miles southwest of Houston, is the county seat of Calhoun County.

Calhoun County Commissioner David Hall calls the project “a game-changer for innovation in the sustainable energy space.”

The solar-powered street lights were made according to DarkSky guidelines designed to reduce nighttime light pollution.

The lighting project is part of a 15-year initiative aimed at boosting Calhoun County’s commitment to solar and other forms of renewable energy.

“Our work in Calhoun County is a prime example of how collaboration and innovative thinking can create not just economic value, but also profound social and environmental impact. Municipalities and counties should explore many available grants through the Inflation Reduction Act to help fund renewable energy initiatives for their communities,” Petar Mirovic, CEO of EnGoPlanet, says in a news release.

Calhoun County is just one of several places where EnGoPlanet, founded in 2019, has installed solar-powered street lights. Others include Houston, Dallas, Montenegro, Qatar, and Serbia.

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Katy’s TerraFlow acquires Houston battery tech startup FlowCellutions

m&a activity

Katy-based TerraFlow Energy, an energy storage and infrastructure company, has acquired Houston-based battery technology startup FlowCellutions. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

FlowCellutions still operates under its established name, but with the tagline “A TerraFlow Energy Company.” Becca Segel, founder and CEO of FlowCellutions, now runs the business as its president.

FlowCellutions specializes in electrochemical sensing, diagnostics, analytics, and testing that offer insights into battery chemistry, charging capabilities, and system performance.

“FlowCellutions has always been focused on developing better ways to understand what is happening inside a flow battery and using that information to improve how these systems perform,” Segal said in a press release. “Joining TerraFlow gives us the opportunity to apply that work at a much larger scale while continuing to build the capabilities and expertise that make FlowCellutions unique.”

The FlowCellutions platform supports data centers and other heavy users of power. It’s designed to help reduce operating costs, prevent failures and costly downtime, and extend battery lifetime from about seven years to more than 30 years.

Segel founded the company in 2022. A member of Greentown Labs, the company raised more than $2 million in non-dilutive funding and received $1.5 million in National Science Foundation funding earlier this year.

FlowCellutions is one of five finalists in the Energy Transition Business category of InnovationMap’s 2026 Houston Innovation Awards.

“FlowCellutions brings a depth of scientific and technical expertise that fits naturally with where TerraFlow is going,” Jon Parrella, CEO of TerraFlow, said in the release.

“As we move from developing these systems to deploying them at commercial scale, understanding performance at a deeper level matters,” he said. “Bringing FlowCellutions into TerraFlow strengthens that capability and gives both teams more opportunity to advance the technology.”

TerraFlow, founded in 2024, develops long-duration energy storage and power infrastructure for data centers, industrial facilities, utilities and other large power consumers.

2 Houston cleantech cos. among world's 50 to watch and more energy news

Trending News

Editor's note: The top Houston energy transition news for October includes local startups landing global recognition and a look at the finalists for Energy Transition Business in the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards. Here are the five most-read EnergyCapitalHTX stories published October 16-31, 2026:

Rice University spinouts named among 50 top cleantech companies to watch

Two Rice University spinouts, Coflux Purification and DexMat, appear on a new list of the world’s 50 cleantech companies to watch. Cleantech Group’s 2026 Cleantech 50 to Watch list recognizes early-stage companies “creating groundbreaking solutions to address some of the world’s most pressing environmental and sustainability challenges.” Continue reading.

These 5 trailblazing Houston startups are leading the energy transition

Houston is home to a growing number of startups reshaping what it means to be called the "Energy Capital of the World." As part of the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards, our Energy Transition Business category honors those innovative startups that are providing solutions within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy and more. Five clean energy startups have been named finalists for the 2026 award. Continue reading.

Tesla unveils new Roadster sports car, which can thrust itself in the air

Tesla has unveiled its new Roadster sports car, which can thrust itself in the air, among other engineering bells and whistles. But drivers shouldn't expect to take it for a spin anytime soon. Elon Musk's electric car company rolled out its second-generation Roadster at a recent event, showing off a set of cold gas thrusters and a “multi-mode” suction system that can fling the car in the air for short spurts and spin the vehicle mid-flight. Continue reading.

Houston researchers develop heating method to recover critical minerals from e-waste

Researchers at Rice University have developed a new technique to efficiently recycle electronic waste and harvest critical minerals using rapid heating. Most electronic devices use flame-retardant plastic. The plastic is formulated from a critical metal called antimony. Continue reading.

Houston solar manufacturer expands facility, production capacity

Solar tracking and manufacturing company PV Hardware USA is increasing its production capacity and expanding its Houston facility in an effort to meet growing demands. The move marks the company's third expansion in the Houston area in three years. PV Hardware reports a 400 percent surge in national market growth over the past three years, as solar-based projects have been pivotal in energy resilience efforts. Continue reading.

8 must-attend Houston energy events happening in November 2026

Mark your calendars

Editor's note: The November calendar is front-loaded with events for those in Houston's energy sector. From annual summits to an expo exploring AI and energy, these are the events you'll want to register for this month.

Nov. 2 — Energy Leadership Speaker Series

Join UH Energy for a conversation with Jason Wells, Chair, President, and Chief Executive Officer of CenterPoint Energy. The Energy Leadership Speaker Series is a year-long program featuring 12 expert-led sessions covering topics from energy leadership to AI and data science in energy operations. The November topic is "Grid Modernization & The Electricity Revolution."

This event begins at 4:15 pm on November 2 at the University of Houston. Find details here.

Nov. 3-4 — Next-Gen AI for Energy Summit 2026

The summit brings together over 600 senior executives from energy, technology, policy, and investment communities worldwide to explore six strategic areas: operational optimization, digital infrastructure, finance, digital twins, risk management, cybersecurity, and AI-driven market and regulatory strategies. The summit is co-located with EnergyTech X, an invite-only forum connecting energy innovators, AI founders, startups, and investors to scale next-generation energy technologies.

This event begins Nov. 3 at the Intercontinental Houston. Register here.

Nov. 3-5: 17th Annual Operational Excellence in Oil & Gas Summit

The 17th Annual Operational Excellence in Oil & Gas Summit will focus on aligning technology, process, and workforce to balance reliability, resilience, and operational cost. It will feature case studies on AI adoption, asset management, and workforce modernization.

This event begins Nov. 3 at Norris Conference Center. Register here.

Nov. 4-5 — 2026 OPIS Global LPG Conference: Powering Global Connectivity

This November, industry leaders, traders, producers, and infrastructure stakeholders will once again converge in Houston—the world’s LPG hub—for the 2026 OPIS Global LPG Conference. The conference will cover the global LPG market, which is entering a new phase of structural evolution, and how the industry is moving from managing volume to mastering the connectivity between expanding supply hubs and global energy and petrochemical demand.

This event begins Nov. 4 at the Royal Sonesta Houston Galleria. Register here.

Nov. 4-6: SAF North America Congress 2026

The aviation and energy value chains will gather in Houston once again to help shape the future of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in North America. The focus will be on safeguarding progress made to date and ensuring SAF remains central to energy and climate strategies.

This event begins Nov. 4 at Marriott Marquis Houston. Register here.

Nov. 11: BNEF Summit Houston 2026

The BNEF Summit Houston 2026 will explore how AI-driven demand, geopolitical tensions, and electrification are reshaping energy systems at unprecedented speed. Bringing together 600 leaders across energy, tech, digital infrastructure and finance, the summit will address the race to build power, infrastructure, and supply chains — and who will fund, deliver, and benefit from the next phase of growth.

This event takes place Nov. 11 at Post Oak Houston. Register here.

Nov. 11-12: Energy Supply Chain & Procurement Summit

For 12 years, the Energy Supply Chain and Procurement Summit has brought senior procurement, supply chain, and logistics leaders to Houston — from operators, EPCs, utilities, service and equipment providers, and the suppliers they depend on. At the 2026 summit, leaders will discuss what production growth is doing to sourcing, supplier risk, and assurance of supply, and what’s working.

This event begins Nov. 11 at Houston Marriott Uptown. Register here.

Nov. 18-19: American Data Centers & AI Conference and Exhibition 2026

Set to redefine the intersection of energy and digital infrastructure, the American Data Centers & AI Conference and Exhibition convenes in Houston for its second annual event. The event will address the increasing demand for high-performance computing and the sustainable development of AI infrastructure, which requires significant power. Participants can expect to learn about practical solutions in energy integration, modern data center design, and scalable approaches. The agenda includes presentations from leading experts, demonstrations of new technologies for thermal management and grid optimization, and detailed discussions on AI's environmental impact and how to reuse generated heat.

This event begins Nov. 18 at the Double Tree Hotel at Greenway Plaza. Register here.

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