Puget Sound Energy and clean energy technology company Modern Hydrogen have launched an initiative aimed at expanding hydrogen technology among large gas customers to meet decarbonization goals.

The two Washington state-based companies have teamed up to boost the implementation of Modern Hydrogen’s technology, which can convert natural gas to hydrogen at the point of consumption. The focus is on customers in the commercial and industrial sectors, according to a Jan. 29 news release.

“PSE is undergoing the most significant transformation in our history as we strive to meet Washington state’s clean energy laws — some of the most ambitious in the nation,” Josh Jacobs, PSE vice president of clean energy strategy and planning, said in a statement. “Our partnership with Modern Hydrogen is a significant step towards achieving this vision, as their technology has the potential to help our largest gas customers accelerate their decarbonization programs and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.”

Melanie Coon, public relations manager at PSE, told NetZero Insider that the utility is “in the process of identifying customers who use large amounts of natural gas and have considerable decarbonization goals. How they end up utilizing the hydrogen will be customized to their unique business and energy needs.”

The main target is heavy industrial and manufacturing customers. PSE is exploring the application of Modern Hydrogen’s technology in sectors like commercial and industrial heat, industrial HVAC, heavy equipment and fleet fueling, and distributed power generation, according to Coon.

That last category includes operations that require firm, on-site power generation with gas turbine infrastructure. This means that the data center, compressor station, warehouse and industrial equipment sectors could potentially apply the technology to their operations, Coon said.

Leigh D’Angelo, manager of communications and public relations at Modern Hydrogen, told NetZero Insider via email that the company’s technology allows customers to remove carbon from natural gas at the meter, converting the gas into hydrogen by a process called methane pyrolysis.

It does so by heating the gas to “extremely high temperatures in a zero-oxygen environment.” The carbon falls out as a solid “black snow” that can be used in asphalt products.

To burn the decarbonized gas, most end-users need to make “minimum equipment” alterations, according to D’Angelo.

Natural gas equipment can burn lower blends of hydrogen. To accept higher blends of clean hydrogen, a hydrogen-rated burner is needed to control the flame.

“Additional retrofits might be needed, depending on the equipment and application characteristics (gas lines, storage tanks, valves, etc.),” D’Angelo wrote. “This can be performed by the [original equipment manufacturer] or by a qualified engineering firm. Overall, these modifications are reasonable in cost. Most OEMs estimate that a [gas-to-hydrogen] retrofit is not more than 10% of the equipment cost.”