Two teams were selected as winners of the latest program round of the Clean Energy Ministerial's (CEM's) H2 Twin Cities initiative, which launched in July 2023 and concluded in June 2024.
The U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, in collaboration with CEM, announced the winners of the latest round of the H2 Twin Cities program on June 11 at the Hydrogen Americas Summit in Washington, D.C.
The latest H2 Twin Cities round focused on mentor-mentee pairings—uniting cities at significantly different levels of hydrogen implementation to enable effective knowledge-transfer and facilitate the relationships needed to establish global hydrogen infrastructure and technology adoption.
h2 Regional Energy Hub | Houston TX+Nuevo Leon MX
- Mentor city: Houston, Texas, United States. Project lead: Center for Houston's Future.
- Mentee city: Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Project lead: State of Nuevo Leon Renewable Energy Agency.
The U.S. city of Houston, Texas, will serve as a municipal mentor to the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon in this strategic partnership to strengthen the hydrogen value chain in both regions. Monterrey, one of Mexico's key centers of industry and manufacturing, is the capital of Nuevo Leon; the city and its suburbs comprise about 90% of the state's population. Priorities include developing local supply chains and integrating hydrogen in industry and manufacturing processes, transportation, and power production and energy storage systems.
Collaborative activities will focus on feasibility assessments, regulatory challenges, supply chain integration and investment attraction, infrastructure requirements, training and specialization, public awareness, and identification of synergies to elevate trade and export opportunities. The h2 Regional Energy Hub project will support the implementation of six strategic action plans to promote development of a robust clean hydrogen industry: (1) regulation and certifications; (2) energy efficiency and technology optimization; (3) market development; (4) training skills; (5) a regional hub; and (6) cross-cutting projects.
Hy HouB: Houston + Barrancabermeja Partnership for Hydrogen Awareness and Adoption
- Mentor city: Houston, Texas, United States. Project lead: American Bureau of Shipping.
- Mentee city: Barrancabermeja, Colombia. Project lead: Energy, Food and Water Nexus SAS BIC (Nexus EFW).
The Hy HouB partnership will facilitate the transfer of knowledge and key learnings between the cities of Houston, Texas, United States, and Barrancabermeja, Colombia, to help achieve strategic goals for the adoption of clean hydrogen. These communities have a common interest in using hydrogen for the transport of heavy goods and materials by a combination of modes, most notably marine and port applications, to meet city and country decarbonization goals.
The Hy HouB knowledge transfer program will consist of short courses, workshops and webinars, visits, and group and individual mentoring opportunities for community representatives, government officials, industry, and academia. Topics include workforce development, re-skilling, and training; techniques for estimating jobs creation and environmental impacts; hydrogen production, delivery, and storage routes, including pipeline transportation to ports, port storage and refueling operations, and vessel storage and propulsion technologies; safety on shore and on board, including leak and flame detection technologies and emergency response operations; community engagement; business models; and leadership skills.