Texas hydrogen stations infrastructure gets boost from Biden Administration

Millions in federal funding will support the use of medium- and heavy-duty H2 trucks.

As many as five hydrogen stations will be constructed in Texas with the help of approximately $70 million in funding from the federal government. The funds will be awarded to the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

The H2 funding is part of a bigger funding project that includes an EV charging network.

The Biden Administration is pouring $623 million into the construction of an EV charging network and hydrogen stations in the US.

The majority of the funds will be awarded to build an electric vehicle charging network across the United States. The grants that have been announced by the government will reportedly fund 47 EV charging stations and related projects in 22 states as well as Puerto Rico. This will also include 7,500 EV charging ports.

That said, beyond developing EV charging infrastructure, another goal is to create a “hydrogen fueling corridor” from southern California to Texas. The up to five new hydrogen stations to be built will give medium- and heavy-duty trucks in Texas’ largest cities, including Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin, more access to hydrogen.

“Funding to build hydrogen refueling sites throughout the Texas Triangle will provide the initial foundation of refueling locations that the freight sector needs to make a transition to cleaner fuel while allowing operators the ability to serve customers’ cargo needs no matter where they call home within the corridor,” said Lori Clark, director of the Dallas-Fort Worth Clean Cities Coalition.

The hydrogen stations in Texas will add to a growing network.

While EVs are increasingly seen as the preferred eco-friendly choice for passenger vehicles in the US, unlike cars, heavy trucks require more power, more range and faster refueling than what traditional battery electric technology can currently provide. For this reason, turning to alternative forms of clean fuel, such as hydrogen, for these vehicles is seen by many to be a more sensible solution. However, development and adoption of hydrogen trucks has been limited due to the lack of reliable refueling infrastructure.

Once built in Texas, the hydrogen stations will add to the growing network of H2 refueling infrastructure, making refueling possible in metro areas from Southern California to Texas, most notably along Interstate 10.

Texas also received funding for EV charging locations.

In addition to the funding awarded to the North Central Texas Council of Governments to build hydrogen stations, the Dallas area and City of El Paso received funding to build charging locations (100 new EV charging location in Dallas and 74 Charing locations in El Paso).

“Texas is already a leader in energy, and our infrastructure must meet the needs of emerging technologies so we can keep growing our economy and creating jobs,” said U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, in a statement about the funding.

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