Florida Energy Company to Add Jobs, Start Manufacturing in 2023
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This is a re-post from Orlando Business Journal — A Space Coast company has created a liquid hydrogen plant that can be set up nearly anywhere in 15 minutes and uses an equivalent amount of power as an electric stove.
Titusville-based GenH2 Corp. — which aims to create hundreds of jobs at a shuttered Titusville Corvette dealership the company is converting to its headquarters campus — on Feb. 1 unveiled the LS20 Mobile Liquid Hydrogen System.
The GenH2 LS20 Mobile Liquid Hydrogen System, which is on display at the GenH2 headquarters, can connect to a standard building’s power hookup.
The LS20 system converts hydrogen from gas form into liquid hydrogen fuel, and it can fit in a trailer that can be pulled anywhere by a standard vehicle.
The LS20 system provides an easy way to demonstrate how easily and safely potential customers can generate hydrogen fuel with GenH2 technology, Vice President of Fabrication and Manufacturing Richard Pratt told Orlando Business Journal. The system can put out up to 20 kilograms of liquid hydrogen per day, enough to power a 2,000-square-foot house for roughly a week.
That may score customers for GenH2, which will mass-produce infrastructure necessary for the safe production, distribution and storage of liquid hydrogen for fuel. Liquid hydrogen is a fuel source with a wide range of potential applications, including cars, transit systems and homes.
Meanwhile, GenH2’s development of its 10.5-acre campus at 5200 S. Washington Ave. in Titusville progresses.
The 60,000-square-foot headquarters office is mostly built out, and the manufacturing plant next door is on track to be operational in the spring after months of delays due to supply-chain hold-ups, Chief Operating Officer Rusty DiNicola told OBJ. At the manufacturing facility, GenH2 workers will build hydrogen liquefaction and storage systems.
As GenH2 stands up its manufacturing, the company likely will grow its team from 45 employees to 100 by the end of the year, DiNicola said. The company’s earliest hires focused on senior-level talent, but the next round of hires opens opportunities for GenH2 to hire from local universities and colleges.
Plus, GenH2 will host three interns this summer and grow its internship program from there, DiNicola added. GenH2 aims to host interns not only from local colleges but also from Brevard Public Schools, which operates a Career & Technical Education program.
GenH2 also plans future phases of redevelopment, which include a system of trails around the campus and the construction of a 40-foot-by-40-foot hollow cube that will serve as an observation deck for rocket launches and demonstrations for hydrogen-powered drones.
To fund the manufacturing work and future growth, GenH2 is in the middle of raising a Series A round from investors, CEO Greg Gosnell said, though he didn’t disclose how much money the firm plans to raise.
Investors appear excited about the hydrogen sector, which collectively raised a record $2.6 billion in 2022, according to PitchBook Data Inc. The number of annual venture capital investment deals in the hydrogen industry tripled from 2014-2022.
Hydrogen fuel has the potential to support millions of jobs. A 2022 report by consulting giant McKinsey & Co. estimates hydrogen and biofuels could support two million direct jobs by 2050.
