Raven SR (Raven SR), a renewable fuels company, Chevron New Energies, a division of Chevron U.S.A. a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and Hyzon Motors announced they are collaborating to commercialize operations of a green waste-to-hydrogen production facility in Richmond intended to supply hydrogen fuel to transportation markets in Northern California.

The facility will be owned by a newly formed company, Raven SR S1 LLC (Raven SR S1). Raven SR will be the operator of the facility, which is targeted to come online in the first quarter of 2024. Chevron holds a 50% equity stake in Raven SR 1. Raven SR holds a 30% stake and Hyzon owns the remaining 20%.

Chevron plans to market its share of the hydrogen in Bay Area and Northern California fueling stations, enabling the energy transition to zero emission vehicles. Hyzon, a global supplier of fuel cell electric commercial vehicles, plans to provide refueling for hydrogen fuel cell trucks at a hydrogen hub in Richmond.

"Our strategic partners' commitment to the first non-combustion Steam/CO2 facility in the world will help drive our commercial operations in Richmond and accelerate similar facilities globally," said Matt Murdock, CEO of Raven. "This facility will be the first hydrogen production plant in the world to reduce greenhouse gases, including critically important short-lived climate pollutants, through its process and its product. By removing waste from the landfill, it will help reduce methane emissions. Not only will the greater Richmond community benefit from reduced emissions, investments, and jobs, it will also see economic benefits as local gas stations have a consistent supply of clean, zero-carbon hydrogen fuel for fuel cell vehicles. We are grateful to work with partners who share our mission to make cleaner fuel options available as soon as possible."

Ahead of teaming with Raven SR on the Raven SR S1 facility, Chevron and Hyzon were among Raven SR's initial strategic investors, along with ITOCHU, Ascent Hydrogen Fund and Samsung Ventures.

"We are excited about this collaboration and our expanded commitment to Raven and its waste-to-hydrogen technology," said Austin Knight, vice president of Hydrogen for Chevron New Energies. "Not only are we positioned to commercialize a first-of-its-kind lower carbon hydrogen project, we are working to reduce emissions in a community in which we have a long and proud history. With a relatively short lead time, we will be able to further develop the hydrogen ecosystem in the region."

The Raven SR technology is a non-combustion thermal, chemical reductive process that converts organic waste and landfill gas to hydrogen and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels. Unlike other hydrogen production technologies, its Steam/CO2 Reformation does not require fresh water as a feedstock and uses less than half the energy of electrolysis.

"The Richmond hub enables a local, renewable hydrogen ecosystem by aligning hydrogen production, refueling infrastructure and vehicle availability geographically and technologically. This alignment is expected to reduce total costs to fleet operators, accelerating the transition to zero-emissions vehicles and global decarbonization," said Parker Meeks, Hyzon president and interim CEO. 

"This marks a significant step in demonstrating the commercial viability of a localized, low-to-negative carbon intensity hydrogen economy," he added. "Through Hyzon's partnership with Raven, hydrogen supply can be synchronized with the demand for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. Raven's deployment of scalable hydrogen production facilities allows supply and demand to grow together as clean hydrogen for transport continues to gain market and regulatory support."