Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) announced that its H₂ Innovation Experience in Downey is now using renewable H₂ that is produced onsite. The project will demonstrate the resiliency and reliability of a renewable H₂ microgrid that can power neighborhoods – just in time to kick off National Clean Energy Week.

The H₂ Innovation Experience features a nearly 2,000 square-foot home that can use reliable and clean H₂ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, by drawing power from solar panels on sunny days and converting excess energy into renewable H₂, which can be stored and then converted back into electricity, as needed, via an on-site H₂ fuel cell. H₂ will also be blended with natural gas and used in the home's tank-less water heater, clothes dryer, and gas stove, fireplace and BBQ grill. The home is being constructed to LEED Platinum standards.

The project's electrolyzer, which uses solar power to split water, has now produced its first full kilogram of renewable H₂—the first ever produced by SoCalGas—which is intended to power a fuel cell to provide power when solar isn't available. One kilogram of H₂, roughly equivalent to a gallon of gasoline, emits only water as a byproduct. The limited production of H₂ at this site as part of this demonstration project is specifically intended to show the microgrid's effectiveness in terms of reliability and resiliency.

"The production of the first kilogram of renewable hydrogen by SoCalGas is a key milestone as we prepare to welcome visitors to our H₂ Innovation Experience in the coming months," said Neil Navin, Vice President of Clean Energy Innovations at SoCalGas. "This project shows the essential role clean fuels like renewable hydrogen can play in meeting California's clean energy and resiliency goals and highlights our progress toward making net zero a reality. And projects like this, along with efforts like those to develop a statewide hydrogen blending standard, have the potential to drive down the costs of renewable hydrogen, making it a valuable tool to help decarbonize California."

"On behalf of my council colleagues and myself, I would like to congratulate SoCalGas on this momentous achievement," said Downey Mayor Blanca Pacheco. "The use of green hydrogen could greatly reduce carbon emissions and help in our fight against climate change. By building on the benefits of using hydrogen generated by renewable energy, our city can continue to be at the forefront of technology and environmental sustainability."

SoCalGas is at the forefront of sustainability having announced its aim to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. It is the first large natural gas utility in the U.S. to do so.

SoCalGas has been at the forefront of clean energy innovation and is aggressively working to develop a suite of tools to help with those decarbonization efforts, particularly in hard-to-electrify sectors: H₂, H₂ blending, renewable natural gas and carbon management, to name some of the clean energy tools being developed and employed as part of its overall clean energy strategy.

That strategy is already in full motion. Earlier this month, SoCalGas partnered with UCI on a proposal to demonstrate how H₂ can be safely blended into existing natural gas infrastructure on the university's campus and take California a step closer to establishing a statewide injection standard for renewable H₂. Additionally, in February, the company proposed developing the Angeles Link, a dedicated green H₂ energy infrastructure system for delivering clean reliable energy to the Los Angeles Basin to serve hard to electrify sectors of the economy like electric generation, heavy-duty transportation, and heavy industry and manufacturing.

SoCalGas research has shown that with clean fuels like renewable natural gas and H₂, coupled with carbon management, California can reach 100% net zero goals more affordably, more equitably and with less risk of power disruptions, customer conversion barriers, and technological limitations.