Houston company scores agreement to work on Canadian green hydrogen project

contract secured

The facility, once completed, will be able to produce 165 kilo tons per Annum of hydrogen and 5,000 metric tons per day of ammonia. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-headquartered McDermott has reported that it secured an agreement to work on Canada's first commercial green hydrogen and ammonia production facility.

The Early Contractor Involvement agreement is from Abraxas Power Corp. to work on the Exploits Valley Renewable Energy Corporation (EVREC) project located in Central Newfoundland and will include developing a wind farm with up to 530 turbines that will have the ability to generate 3.5 gigawatts of electricity and 150 megawatts solar photo voltaic. Additionally, the facility, once completed, will be able to produce 165 kilo tons per Annum of hydrogen and 5,000 metric tons per day of ammonia.

"The agreement is testament to McDermott's industry-leading delivery and installation expertise, and the breadth of our capabilities across the energy transition," Rob Shaul, McDermott's senior vice president, Low Carbon Solutions, says in a news release. "Our century of experience, from concept to completion, and integrated delivery model, means we can offer Abraxas a repeatable modular implementation solution that is expected to drive cost savings, reduce risk and provide quality assurance."

Per the agreement, the company will provide front-end engineering design, engineering, procurement, and construction execution planning services, and more for the project. According to McDermott, the company's contribution to the project will be led from McDermott's Houston office with support from its office in India.

Recently, another collaboration McDermott is working on reached a new milestone. Houston-based Element Fuels has completed the pre-construction phase of its hydrogen-powered clean fuels refinery and combined-cycle power plant in the Port of Brownsville. McDermott is providing front-end engineering design services for the project.

In October, McDermott announced that it signed a lighthouse agreement with United Kingdom-based industrial software company AVEVA and Massachusetts-based product lifecycle management platform provider Aras. With the new software, McDermott plans "to develop its asset lifecycle management capability across the energy transition, oil and gas, and nuclear sectors," per the news release.

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Element Fuels has designed the plant to produce and recycle hydrogen that will generate and deliver cleaner, higher-quality fuels. Photo via Getty Images

Houston clean fuels producer reaches milestone on South Texas hydrogen-powered refinery

hi to hydrogen

Houston-based Element Fuels has completed the pre-construction phase of its hydrogen-powered clean fuels refinery and combined-cycle power plant in the Port of Brownsville.

Element Fuels, which has contracted with Houston-based McDermott to provide front-end engineering design services for the project, has designed the plant to produce and recycle hydrogen that will generate and deliver cleaner, higher-quality fuels, including much-needed high-octane gasoline and electricity for commercial and consumer consumption.

“Element Fuels has received the necessary permitting to construct and operate a refinery capable of producing in excess of 160,000 barrels, or approximately 6.7 million gallons, per day of finished gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel,” Founder and Co-CEO of Element Fuels John Calce says in a news release. “A permit for a greenfield refinery of this size, scope, and functionality has not been granted in the United States since the 1970s. This speaks to the innovative approaches we are taking to address climate and sustainability concerns in cleaner, greener ways that are new to the refinery space.”

The project is expected to go online in 2027 and will produce enough low-carbon hydrogen to supply approximately 100 percent of the refinery’s fuel requirements, essentially eliminating CO2 emissions, per the news release. More than 100 megawatts of excess electricity generated from the power plant will be provided to the Energy Reliability Council of Texas for the surrounding community’s needs.

“Element Fuels is not only ushering in the next generation of clean fuels, we’re also proving that, without a doubt, there is a way to produce higher quality, cleaner, higher-octane fuels that significantly advance the energy transition," Calce continues. "This changes everything – for the industry, for consumers, and for the well-being of the planet.”

The plant is located in South Texas and built on more than 240 acres within the Port of Brownsville. Element Fuels is reportedly collaborating with local and Port officials "to advance the Justice40 initiative established by the U.S. Department of Commerce to contribute to a climate-positive environment that provides residents of the Brownsville area and Rio Grande Valley with clean energy and affordable and sustainable housing," per the release.

“Building on our successful collaboration during early project phases, we believe we are uniquely positioned to leverage our expertise and knowledge to further support Element Fuels throughout the next stages of this unique project,” adds Rob Shaul, senior vice president at Low Carbon Solutions at McDermott. “We remain focused on the delivery of low carbon pathway projects and are committed to advancing the landscape of energy production.”

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CenterPoint’s Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative makes advancements on progress

step by step

CenterPoint Energy has released the first of its public progress updates on the actions being taken throughout the Greater Houston 12-county area, which is part of Phase Two of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative.

The GHRI Phase Two will lead to more than 125 million fewer outage minutes annually, according to CenterPoint.

According to CenterPoint, they have installed around 4,600 storm-resilient poles, installed more than 100 miles of power lines underground, cleared more than 800 miles of hazardous vegetation to improve reliability, and installed more self-healing automation all during the first two months of the program in preparation for the 2025 hurricane season.

"This summer, we accomplished a significant level of increased system hardening in the first phase of the Greater Houston Resilience Initiative,” Darin Carroll, senior vice president of CenterPoint Energy's Electric Business, says in a news release.

”Since then, as we have been fully engaged in delivering the additional set of actions in our second phase of GHRI, we continue to make significant progress as we work toward our ultimate goal of becoming the most resilient coastal grid in the country,” he continues.

The GHRI is a series of actions to “ strengthen resilience, enable a self-healing grid and reduce the duration and impact of power outages” according to a news release. The following progress through early November include:

The second phase of GHRI will run through May 31, 2025. During this time, CenterPoint teams will be installing 4,500 automated reliability devices to minimize sustained interruptions during major storms, reduce restoration times, and establish a network of 100 new weather monitoring stations. CenterPoint plans to complete each of these actions before the start of the next hurricane season.

“Now, and in the months to come, we will remain laser-focused on completing these critical resiliency actions and building the more reliable and more resilient energy system our customers expect and deserve," Carroll adds.

CenterPoint also announced that it has completed all 42 of the critical actions the company committed to taking in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. Some of the actions were trimming or removing higher-risk vegetation from more than 2,000 power line miles, installing more than 1,100 more storm-resilient poles, installing over 300 automated devices to reduce sustained outages, launching a new, cloud-based outage tracker, improving CenterPoint's Power Alert Service, hosting listening sessions across the service area and using feedback.

In October, CenterPoint Energy announced an agreement with Artificial Intelligence-powered infrastructure modeling platform Neara for engineering-grade simulations and analytics, and to deploy Neara’s AI capabilities across CenterPoint’s Greater Houston service area.

Greentown launches 3rd round of collaborative accelerator for energy tech founders of color

browning the green space

For the third year, Greentown Labs and Browning the Green Space have opened applications for ACCEL, a climatetech accelerator designed to bolster BIPOC-led companies.

The program, which is a year-long commitment providing opportunities across funding, networking connections, resources, and more, has applications open until January 7. Each selected company will receive non-dilutive grant funding up to $25,000, trainings from VentureWell, a desk and membership at Greentown Houston or Boston locations, a BGS membership, and more.

A handful of startups will be selected for the program, which is looking for companies at the two to four Technology Readiness Level (TRL ) stage with a technology solution across agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, resiliency and adaptation, and transportation sectors.

“ACCEL has been amazing," Chidalu Onyenso, founder of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based EarthBond, a member of the 2022 cohort, writes on the website. "I’ve really enjoyed the membership and programming. I think it’s fantastic—if I met another Black or Brown founder focused on climatetech, I’d tell them to apply to this program, 100 percent.”

Earlier this year, the program — which is supported by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center,Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Equinor, Barr Foundation — named seven companies to its second cohort and six to its inaugural batch in 2022. The 13 companies across two cohorts so far have received $325,000 in grant funding from the program.

"These BIPOC-led startups are developing climate technologies that will lead us to a more equitable and sustainable future," MassCEC CEO Dr. Emily Reichert, the former CEO of Greentown, said of the second cohort in a news release. "We want ALL climatetech innovators and entrepreneurs to thrive here in Massachusetts. We are proud to support the ACCEL accelerator, created and led by Greentown Labs and Browning the Green Space. The ACCEL program is helping us build a more diverse innovation ecosystem by breaking down barriers and expanding opportunities."

Interested and qualifying companies can apply online.

Houston university launches global hub to drive innovation in sustainable energy, advanced technologies

incoming, India

Rice University is launching Rice Global India, which is a strategic initiative to expand India’s rapidly growing education and technology sectors.

The new hub will be in the country’s third-largest city and the center of the country’s high-tech industry, Bengaluru, India, and will include collaborations with top-tier research and academic institutions. Rice continues its collaborations with institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru. The partnerships are expected to advance research initiatives, student and faculty exchanges and collaborations in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and sustainable energy.

“India is a country of tremendous opportunity, one where we see the potential to make a meaningful impact through collaboration in research, innovation and education,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches says in a news release. “Our presence in India is a critical step in expanding our global reach, and we are excited to engage more with India’s academic leaders and industries to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.”

India was a prime spot for the location due to the energy, climate change, artificial intelligence and biotechnology studies that align with Rice’s research that is outlined in its strategic plan Momentous: Personalized Scale for Global Impact.

“India’s position as one of the world’s fastest-growing education and technology markets makes it a crucial partner for Rice’s global vision,” vice president for global at Rice Caroline Levander adds. “The U.S.-India relationship, underscored by initiatives like the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, provides fertile ground for educational, technological and research exchanges.”

On November 18, the university hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Bengaluru, India to help launch the project.

“This expansion reflects our commitment to fostering a more interconnected world where education and research transcend borders,” DesRoches says.

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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

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