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Meet the Members: Chart Industries, Inc.

Chart Industries joined the Hydrogen Council in 2020. Here, Jill Evanko, CEO, answers our questions.

March 29, 2023

Chart Industries joined the Hydrogen Council in 2020. Why did Chart want to be a part of the global CEO-led initiative?

At Chart, we have been designing and manufacturing hydrogen equipment for over 58 years. In mid-2020, we saw a dramatic increase in interest from potential customers for hydrogen application, yet realized that a subset of these customers were not sure exactly what they wanted, needed, or how to go from a concept to production. That’s where the Hydrogen Council became very important for us to get involved with, as, unlike other organizations in the hydrogen industry, Hydrogen Council has the commitment, focus and time of CEOs of global companies that operate in hydrogen. It was our belief that we could contribute our learnings and with the CEO-led focus, ensure that new entrants into the use of hydrogen were doing so thoughtfully and safely. 

Chart recently completed its acquisition of Howden. What does the combination of Chart and Howden mean for the hydrogen sector? What are the benefits?

Two Hydrogen Council members and key players in the hydrogen industry coming together into one company is going to present our customers will fuller solutions for hydrogen (amongst other offerings such as LNG, carbon capture, water treatment, to name few). Our combined offering for our customers now ranges from hydrogen liquefiers, with all mission critical equipment including hydrogen compression in house, to storage and transport to end use, including hydrogen refueling stations.

The combination of Chart and Howden also expands our geographic manufacturing footprint to over 35 locations and ~50 repair and service locations – this will allow customers in every region to have shorter lead-times on products, ease of doing business with a supplier that has certifications in region, and also best quality at the best price.

What’s the most exciting hydrogen related project Chart is working on right now?

We have a lot of exciting projects underway as well as completed. Liquefier projects for customers in the US and Canada, as well as multiple compression, storage, transport and end use orders for customers in regions including China, South Korea, Europe and North America.

I’d also love to highlight one of Howden’s recent projects with Shell – Shell Red II Green – a project in the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, where they are converting an existing refinery plant into a biofuel. The plant will be able to receive vegetable oil as feedstock for renewable diesel. All these plants are modifications of the existing hydro-treating plants, where Howden is a leading player. These hydro-treating units use grey hydrogen today, but many plants are planning to move towards green hydrogen instead. On the same plant, Shell is now blending grey hydrogen with green – it is called Hydrogen Holland 1 (HH1), and Howden has won that contract as well.   

Chart works closely with a number of companies in the hydrogen space, most recently signing an MoU with ZEV stations and then also Howden has signed an MoU with Hydrexia to accelerate hydrogen mobility in the Asia-Pacific region. What are the advantages of having partnerships? And can we expect to see more alliances formed this year?

Partnerships and collaborations are a key part of accelerating the adoption of hydrogen and also driving cost down while supporting innovation. I am a firm believer that we need partnerships in the private sector to keep momentum and also to more quickly move from “pilot” or “demonstration” projects to building infrastructure at scale. 

We anticipate forming more alliances this year to accelerate the transition, and given the complementary nature of Howden and Chart’s hydrogen offerings, we expect to bring each other’s expertise into some of the existing partnerships. We did this with Raven SR, who was a Howden partner at first and then Raven signed an MOU recently with Chart. 

As momentum for hydrogen continues to increase, where do you think the Hydrogen Council needs to focus its efforts in 2023?

On near-term action items. We have to start focusing on what we can do in the next one to three years versus in 2050, and therefore working on what can make a difference in further penetrating hydrogen as a part of the global economy for the appropriate applications is very important. 

About The Hydrogen Council

The Hydrogen Council is a global CEO-led initiative that brings together leading companies with a united vision and long-term ambition for hydrogen to foster the clean energy transition. The Council believes that hydrogen has a key role to play in reaching our global decarbonization goals by helping to diversify energy sources worldwide, foster business and technological innovation as drivers for long-term economic growth, and decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors.

Using its global reach to promote collaboration between governments, industry and investors, the Council provides guidance on accelerating the deployment of hydrogen solutions around the world. It also acts as a business marketplace, bringing together a diverse group of 140+ companies based in 20+ countries across the entire hydrogen value chain, including large multinationals, innovative SMEs, and investors.

The Hydrogen Council also serves as a resource for safety standards and an interlocutor for the investment community, while identifying opportunities for regulatory advocacy in key geographies.

To find out more visit www.hydrogencouncil.com and follow us on Twitter @HydrogenCouncil and LinkedIn.

For further information

Joanna Sampson, Communications Manager, Hydrogen Council
joanna.sampson@hydrogencouncouncil.com

 

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