Berkshire Hathaway Hydrogen Initiatives for 2025: Key Projects, Strategies and Partnerships

Berkshire Hathaway’s Hydrogen Play: From Strategic Bets to Value Chain Dominance

Berkshire Hathaway, through its energy subsidiary BHE, is methodically assembling the pieces of a formidable hydrogen strategy. What began as a series of diversified explorations into hydrogen production is now evolving into a cohesive, integrated approach targeting the entire value chain. By analyzing activities across two distinct periods—2021 to 2024 and 2025 to today—we can chart the company’s strategic pivot from cautious experimentation to assertive market-building. This report dissects Berkshire Hathaway’s investments, partnerships, and technological advancements to reveal a deliberate strategy aimed at securing a leadership position in the future hydrogen economy.

Industry Adoption: A Shift from Diversified Exploration to Integrated Application

Between 2021 and 2024, Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s approach to hydrogen was characterized by broad, technology-agnostic exploration. The company engaged in partnerships to test multiple production pathways, reflecting a period of strategic hedging. This included involvement with the ARCHES public-private partnership to explore industrial-scale green hydrogen and a project with Black Hills Energy utilizing Babcock & Wilcox’s BrightLoop technology to produce hydrogen from Powder River Basin coal, complete with carbon capture. This diverse application portfolio, spanning green and blue hydrogen, signaled an industry-wide effort to de-risk technological pathways and identify commercially viable models. The focus was on foundational projects and partnerships to understand the technical and economic feasibility of different hydrogen sources.

The period from January 2025 to the present marks a significant inflection point. Berkshire’s strategy has matured from exploring production methods to enabling the entire hydrogen value chain. The evaluation of hydrogen locomotives by its subsidiary BNSF points directly to building out end-use demand in heavy transport. Furthermore, the ecosystem’s recent developments, such as Plug Power’s $1.66 billion DOE-backed loan to build green hydrogen plants and Triple Point’s development of large-scale underground hydrogen storage, indicate a decisive move toward commercial scaling and infrastructure development. This shift from pilot projects to enabling large-scale production, storage, and consumption reveals a broader market maturation. The new opportunity lies not just in producing hydrogen, but in controlling the critical infrastructure—storage and transport—that will unlock its widespread adoption.

Table: Berkshire Hathaway’s Energy Transition Investments

Table: Berkshire Hathaway’s Strategic Hydrogen and Clean Energy Partnerships

Geography: From Regional Resource Hubs to National Infrastructure Plays

Between 2021 and 2024, Berkshire Hathaway’s hydrogen-related activities were geographically concentrated in US regions with specific resource advantages. Wyoming was the site of the PRB Coal to Hydrogen project, leveraging the state’s coal reserves. West Virginia saw a $500 million investment in clean energy to power heavy industry, tapping into its industrial base. California’s Imperial Valley was the focus of the geothermal lithium extraction venture with Occidental, utilizing its unique geothermal resources. The ARCHES H2 partnership centered on the Intermountain West. This pattern reveals a strategy of launching pilot projects in locations with favorable resources and infrastructure, minimizing logistical risks.

From 2025 onwards, the geographic focus appears to be broadening towards national energy hubs and infrastructure corridors. The Plug Power green hydrogen initiative, which Berkshire is positioned to benefit from, is launching in Texas, a pivotal state for energy production and transport. The development of large-scale underground storage by Triple Point is less about a single resource and more about serving broad grid regions. This geographic expansion from niche resource plays to major energy centers suggests a strategy shift. Berkshire is moving beyond localized pilots and is now focused on building the infrastructure necessary for a national hydrogen market, creating a new risk profile centered on large-scale project execution in competitive, high-stakes regions.

Technology Maturity: Pivoting from Pilot-Phase Evaluation to Commercial Scaling

The 2021–2024 period was defined by technology evaluation and demonstration. Projects were largely in the pilot or developmental stage, aimed at validating different hydrogen production methods. The Babcock & Wilcox BrightLoop technology for converting coal to hydrogen was selected for a project development study, not full-scale deployment. The Occidental joint venture was focused on testing and deploying lithium extraction technology. The ARCHES partnership itself was formed to *accelerate* future projects, indicating the technology was not yet at commercial scale. This phase was about testing hypotheses and gathering data across a portfolio of emerging technologies.

The current period, from 2025, shows a clear pivot to commercialization and scaling of proven technologies. The key validation point is Plug Power securing a $1.66 billion DOE loan to construct up to six commercial-scale green hydrogen plants. This moves green hydrogen production firmly out of the pilot phase. Similarly, Triple Point is developing large-scale underground storage, a commercial infrastructure solution, not a test project. BNSF’s field-testing of hydrogen locomotives represents a move from R&D to real-world operational trials, the final step before commercial adoption. The market has sent a clear signal: the focus is now on manufacturing, construction, and deployment of technologies that are ready to scale, with investor interest shifting towards companies that can execute large-scale projects.

Table: SWOT Analysis of Berkshire Hathaway’s Hydrogen Strategy

Forward-Looking Insights: The Year Ahead Is About Integration and Execution

The most recent data signals that Berkshire Hathaway’s hydrogen strategy is entering a new, more aggressive phase focused on execution and integration. The disparate investments and partnerships of the past are now coalescing into a coherent value chain. The key signal for the year ahead is the move to connect scaled production (Plug Power ecosystem), large-volume storage (Triple Point), and captive demand (BNSF locomotives). This indicates a strategy to build a defensible, integrated hydrogen business.

Market actors should pay close attention to three signals. First, the progress of the large-scale infrastructure projects—any delays or successes in the Plug Power plants or Triple Point storage will be a bellwether for the entire sector. Second, any announcements from the newly acquired Bell Laboratories could reveal a move into proprietary hydrogen technology, shifting Berkshire from a capital allocator to a technology owner. Finally, a significant purchase order for hydrogen locomotives from BNSF would provide a powerful demand signal, validating the business case for its infrastructure investments. Green hydrogen production and storage are clearly gaining traction, while exploratory pathways like coal-to-hydrogen appear to be taking a backseat as the company doubles down on commercially mature solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Berkshire Hathaway’s primary strategy in the hydrogen sector?
Berkshire Hathaway’s strategy has evolved from broad exploration to creating an integrated hydrogen value chain. The company aims to control key segments from production (through renewables and partnerships), to critical infrastructure like large-scale storage (Triple Point) and transport, and finally to end-use demand, exemplified by its subsidiary BNSF’s evaluation of hydrogen locomotives.

How has Berkshire’s approach to hydrogen changed over time?
Between 2021 and 2024, the strategy was characterized by diversified, technology-agnostic exploration, involving pilot projects in both green (ARCHES partnership) and blue hydrogen (Babcock & Wilcox project). From 2025 onward, the focus has pivoted to commercial scaling and infrastructure development, shifting from validating technology to building the necessary components for a national hydrogen market.

Is Berkshire Hathaway focused on one specific type of hydrogen, like green or blue?
Initially, Berkshire Hathaway explored multiple pathways, including green hydrogen through the ARCHES public-private partnership and blue hydrogen from coal with carbon capture (Babcock & Wilcox’s BrightLoop technology). However, recent developments, such as the focus on the Plug Power ecosystem’s DOE-backed green hydrogen plants, suggest the strategy is now prioritizing commercially mature solutions, with green hydrogen gaining significant traction.

What are the biggest opportunities for Berkshire’s hydrogen play?
The primary opportunities identified are capitalizing on massive government incentives, such as Plug Power’s $1.66 billion DOE loan, and building out first-mover infrastructure. By developing critical components like large-scale storage (with Triple Point) and captive transport demand (BNSF locomotives), Berkshire can establish a dominant position in the emerging hydrogen economy.

According to the analysis, what is the main threat to Berkshire Hathaway’s hydrogen strategy?
The main threat has shifted from technological uncertainty to large-scale project execution risk. As the focus moves from pilot projects to commercial deployment (e.g., building multiple large hydrogen plants), the challenge is no longer about whether the technology works, but whether it can be deployed at scale, on time, and profitably, while facing competition from other energy majors.

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