Claremont office of Technip Energies U.S., a part of French engineering and technology company Technip Energies, and U.S. clean energy technology company Graphitic Energy, formerly C-Zero, have entered a strategic collaboration to scale clean hydrogen technology.
Specifically, the two companies partnered to develop and deploy Graphitic’s methane pyrolysis technology. As informed, this process utilizes natural gas to produce clean hydrogen and graphite, a crystalline form of carbon used in batteries, lubricants, refractories, and high-temperature industrial processes. The method is said to be low-electricity-intensive and can reportedly be scaled to produce 100,000 metric tons of hydrogen per year in a single process train.
Graphitic stressed that, unlike other low-carbon hydrogen production paths, its process economics do not require government subsidies to be cost-competitive, and the company can “profitably deliver” both hydrogen and graphite at current market prices. In addition, Graphitic’s technology can allegedly be sited anywhere natural gas or LNG are available, without the need to source renewable electricity or perform geological CO2 sequestration.
Mario Tommaselli, Senior Vice President of Gas & Low Carbon Energies at Technip Energies, commented: “Technip Energies is excited to enter into this cooperation with Graphitic Energy and bring forward our recognized hydrogen production experience and fluidized bed expertise to standardize plants globally for the production of hydrogen and synthetic graphite with minimal direct CO2 emissions. The standardized designs will allow for lower pre-investment costs, accelerated implementation time, high predictability on project economics, and reduced overall capital costs. This cooperation underscores Technip’s commitment to delivering sustainable, innovative, cost-effective low-carbon solutions, strengthening our technology portfolio.”
Zach Jones, Graphitic’s Co-Founder and CEO, stated: “Graphitic’s technology enables the production of two critical products from natural gas. We’ve taken it from an idea, through the lab scale, and into a large pilot generating tonnes of graphitic material. Collaborating with Technip Energies will enable us to get to market faster and provide interested parties with high-quality engineering packages.”
To note, according to Graphitic, this agreement includes funding dedicated to testing campaigns to support technology advancement. Later in 2025, the parties also plan to enter into a licensing collaboration agreement to accelerate the deployment of Graphitic’s technology around the world.
It is worth mentioning that in March of 2025, Graphitic commissioned its pilot plant in San Antonio, Texas. The facility is said to be capable of producing several hundred kilograms (kg) of hydrogen and up to 1,000 kg of solid carbon per day, with continuous 24/7 operations. It is expected to operate through the end of 2025.