Pajarito Powder, the Albuquerque hydrogen tech company that in late December unveiled a new, expanded HQ facility, recently landed a pair of U.S. Department of Energy awards that its CEO said are "very significant" for the firm's continued growth.
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced $750 million worth of hydrogen funding awards for 52 projects, spread across 24 states, all with the goal of helping reduce the cost of clean hydrogen development in the U.S. Pajarito Powder landed two awards — one aimed at boosting electrolyzer supply chain development, and another targeted at fuel cell supply chain development.
The Albuquerque company manufactures catalyst products for both of those hydrogen technology components, electrolyzers and fuel cells. Electrolyzers are pieces of equipment required to produce hydrogen using electrolysis, and fuel cells are used to power hydrogen-fueled vehicles, from fuel cell-powered cars to trucks to airplane engines.
Each of Pajarito Powder's awards are valued at $10 million — what represents a "huge" amount of money for the company, its CEO Tom Stephenson told New Mexico Inno Tuesday. The DOE announced the 52 award selections on March 13.
The awards are government-funded cooperative agreements, which come with certain milestones and obligations Pajarito Powder and its project partners must meet to continue receiving funding, said Michele Ostraat, Ph.D., the Albuquerque company's chief operating officer. Pajarito's partners on the two cooperative agreements include private companies like General Motors and Connecticut-based Nel Hydrogen US, alongside national labs like Brookhaven National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Ostraat said both projects have a "nice blend" of focus on research and development activities and manufacturing activities. For instance, she said the awards come with manufacturing and cost targets for some of Pajarito's existing materials and milestones surrounding research into the development of new types of catalyzer materials — something Pajarito's new facility gives the company more space to handle, Ostraat said in December.
Working under the two awards means Pajarito will need to hire more people. Ostraat said the company could bring on more than a dozen new employees as part of its DOE-funded cooperative agreement work.
But while the positions may be aimed at supporting work under these two awards specifically, Ostraat added the new roles will be "sustainable" and turn into full-time positions after the award durations run out. The electrolyzer-focused award has a 36-month funding period, and the fuel cell-focused award has a 48-month funding period, she said.
And while Pajarito Powder has landed some DOE funding before, CEO Stephenson said these two recent awards are by far the largest the company has received. Previous DOE-funded work includes a pair of projects as the "prime" company and others as a subcontractor to prime awardees.
It's the first time Pajarito has landed such large-scale awards as a prime, Stephenson added.
Pajarito has worked with a few of its project partners before, including Nel Hydrogen US and General Motors. It met another project partner through a DOE networking event, COO Ostraat said.
The company has been one of Albuquerque's fastest growing in a burgeoning nationwide hydrogen industry. Although New Mexico missed out on federal hydrogen hub dollars in October 2023, several companies — including Pajarito — in the state have continued to make strides, including Albuquerque-based BayoTech Inc. and Santa Fe's Libertad Power.
New Mexico also drew a hydrogen research and development company from Australia, Star Scientific Ltd., to set up its first U.S. facility at Mesa del Sol, the large master-planned community in far South Albuquerque.
