Dallas-based hydrogen technology company DirectH2—a startup backed by HL Energy Ventures, the Hunt Energy spinout—has set its sights on expansion in India.

DirectH2 is developing what it calls “game changing” modular direct solar-to-green hydrogen technology. The company holds exclusive rights to Rice University’s IP for modular hydrogen production, and aims to reshape clean energy in the U.S. and beyond with the solution.

It now plans to do that in India after signing a letter of intent with Shree Tuljabhavani Sugar Private Limited (STSPL) for India business development and early funding to enable “lowest cost, high-efficiency hydrogen production at the point of use.”

The move comes nine months after DirectH2 closed its seed round funding from HL Energy Ventures, marking “a significant milestone” in the company’s mission to revolutionize modular hydrogen production.

New CEO lauds partnership with India’s STSPL

Vivek V. Dhas—a native of Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, India, who previously helped found Hunt Perovskite Technologies—is DirectH2’s new CEO, stepping into the post previously held on an interim basis by DirectH2 Co-Founder Michael Irwin. 

“We’re pleased to partner with STSPL in bringing our revolutionary technology to the India market,” Dhas said in a statement. “This LOI for early business development and early-stage funding substantiates our mission and will accelerate delivering scalable, efficient, lowest cost Solar PV-Based, modular hydrogen production at the point of use.”

Dhas said STSPL will be “an important collaborator” for DirectH2’s mission to be part of India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission and commercial development.

Bringing the tech ‘to commercial reality’

Dr. Aditya Mohite—chief scientific officer at DirectH2 and inventor of the company’s PV-integrated electrolysis technology at Rice University in Houston—called the business development agreement between DirectH2 and STSP “most encouraging, as we all work to bring this exciting and needed technology to commercial reality.”

“By integrating and innovating the Solar PV and Electrolyzer technologies into one panel,” he added in a statement, “Direct H2 does not require high cost electricity, nor high-cost electricity delivery infrastructure like in conventional approaches.”

Instead, he said, it can produce lower-cost green hydrogen at the point of need and use.

“This de-centralizing approach will open up market applications from fueling fleets to data centers to industrial applications,” Mohite added.

More on STSPL’s role

STSPL is an agricultural company based in Maharashtra, India. It has had a strong business presence in sugar production, ethanol distillery, power generation, compressed biogas, and biomass since 2001.

STSPL plans to provide land for the future expansion of DirectH2’s operation in India, as well as being an offtaker of the green hydrogen, and an early investor of Direct H2, said Bhavna Bordikar, founder and chairman of STSPL.

“This collaboration between DirectH2 and STSPL will strongly support India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission,” Bordikar added in a statement.

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