SoCalGas and ClearSign Collaboration Awarded U.S. Department of Energy Grant to Scale-Up Ultra-Low-NOx Hydrogen-Powered Industrial Burner Prototype

DOE program awarded $126 million in grants to 106 projects to pursue clean energy research and development

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A project on which Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and Tulsa-Based ClearSign Technologies Corporation are collaborating has been awarded more than $1.6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to scale-up an ultra-low-NO_x hydrogen-powered industrial burner prototype, and introduce this technology to industries in Southern California.

This preliminary award was part of $126 million awarded to 106 projects the Department of Energy announced to help small businesses like ClearSign address multiple mission areas across the DOE, including clean energy and decarbonization, cybersecurity and grid reliability, fusion energy, and nuclear nonproliferation. SoCalGas will be providing an additional $500,000 to help fund the project and to field demonstrate the technology in Southern California. The burner is designed to operate on up to 100% hydrogen and to help decarbonize hard-to-electrify, high-heat industrial processes.

"This exciting and innovative project offers a look at how hydrogen can play a vital role in helping industries in California start down the path to net zero through technology that allows the transition to clean fuels," said Neil Navin, SoCalGas Chief Clean Fuels Officer. "Investments in clean fuel technologies like this will be key in providing hard-to-decarbonize industries the means to reach net zero quickly and affordably."

"We are extremely pleased to receive this support from the forward-looking team at SoCalGas. Our collaboration with SoCalGas provides not just additional financial support, but also their engagement with us in moving the energy transition forward in California, and making our ClearSign Core technologies part of the technical portfolio available to all the industries that SoCalGas serves" said Jim Deller, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of ClearSign.

"Big ideas become realities in the labs, workshops, factories, and plants of America's small businesses," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm, in announcing the $126 million in grants. "Small businesses tackle monumental issues all over the country, including climate change. DOE's small business grants help companies across the country to develop the technologies, products, and infrastructure we will need for the transition to clean energy."

The ClearSign project set out to build a process burner, which provides high heat in a number of industrial uses. It can run on natural gas, natural gas blended with hydrogen or pure hydrogen, and cuts down on NO_x emissions from combustion.

Phase One of the collaboration has already seen the completion and deployment of a prototype process burner that successfully integrated hydrogen and hydrogen blends while maintaining ultra-low NO_x output. Phase Two, which will occur over the next two years, will entail scaling up the size of the burner to four times its prototype size and deploying it in real-world industrial settings where high heat is required.

SoCalGas has made clean energy innovations designed to decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors a key component of its efforts to help California achieve net zero by 2045. To that end, SoCalGas is working to develop Angeles Link, a proposed green hydrogen pipeline system to serve Southern and Central California. The project, which could be the nation's largest green hydrogen pipeline system, could help significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, electric generation, industrial processes, and other hard-to-electrify sectors of the California economy.

SoCalGas is also working to help the state of California develop a hydrogen blending standard through pilot projects, to help better understand how clean fuels like renewable hydrogen could be delivered at scale through California's existing natural gas system.

For more information about SoCalGas' hydrogen innovation, visit http://socalgas.com/hydrogen.

About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, and increasingly renewable gas service to over 21 million consumers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California. Gas delivered through the company's pipelines will continue to play a key role in California's clean energy transition—providing electric grid reliability and supporting wind and solar energy deployment. 

SoCalGas' mission is to build the cleanest, safest and most innovative energy infrastructure company in America. In support of that mission, SoCalGas aspires to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations and delivery of energy by 2045 and to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply to core customers with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for customers. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE), an energy infrastructure company based in San Diego. 

For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook. 

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions with respect to the future, involve risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees. Future results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

In this press release, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "contemplates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "in process," "construct," "develop," "opportunity," "initiative," "target," "outlook," "optimistic," "poised," "maintain," "continue," "progress," "advance," "goal," "aim," "commit," or similar expressions, or when we discuss our guidance, priorities, strategy, goals, vision, mission, opportunities, projections, intentions or expectations.

Factors, among others, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement include risks and uncertainties relating to: decisions, investigations, inquiries, regulations, denials or revocations of permits, consents, approvals or other authorizations, renewals of franchises, and other actions by (i) the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, and other governmental and regulatory bodies and (ii) the U.S. and states, counties, cities and other jurisdictions therein where we do business; the success of business development efforts and construction projects, including risks in (i) completing construction projects or other transactions on schedule and budget, (ii) realizing anticipated benefits from any of these efforts if completed, and (iii) obtaining the consent or approval of third parties; litigation, arbitrations and other proceedings, and changes to laws and regulations; cybersecurity threats, including by state and state-sponsored actors, of ransomware or other attacks on our systems or the systems of third parties with which we conduct business, including the energy grid or other energy infrastructure, all of which have become more pronounced due to recent geopolitical events; our ability to borrow money on favorable terms and meet our obligations, including due to (i) actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or place those ratings on negative outlook or (ii) rising interest rates and inflation; failure of our counterparties to honor their contracts and commitments; the impact on affordability of our customer rates and our cost of capital and on our ability to pass through higher costs to customers due to (i) volatility in inflation, interest rates and commodity prices and (ii) the cost of the clean energy transition in California; the impact of climate and sustainability policies, laws, rules, regulations, disclosures and trends, including actions to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas, increased uncertainty in the political or regulatory environment for California natural gas distribution companies, the risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets, and our ability to incorporate new technologies; weather, natural disasters, pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, terrorism, information system outages or other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities or systems, cause the release of harmful materials or fires or subject us to liability for damages, fines and penalties, some of which may not be recoverable through regulatory mechanisms or insurance or may impact our ability to obtain satisfactory levels of affordable insurance; the availability of natural gas and natural gas storage capacity, including disruptions caused by failures in the pipeline system or limitations on the withdrawal of natural gas from storage facilities; changes in tax and trade policies, laws and regulations, including tariffs, revisions to international trade agreements and sanctions, any of which may increase our costs, reduce our competitiveness, impact our ability to do business with certain counterparties, or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; and other uncertainties, some of which are difficult to predict and beyond our control.

These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that the company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on Sempra's website, www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.

Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, Sempra Texas, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company or Southern California Gas Company, and Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, Sempra Texas, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the CPUC.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socalgas-and-clearsign-collaboration-awarded-us-department-of-energy-grant-to-scale-up-ultra-low-nox-hydrogen-powered-industrial-burner-prototype-301932958.html

SOURCE Southern California Gas Company