Markets

The demand is here. Clean supply isn't.

California already uses about two million tonnes of hydrogen a year, almost all of it made from natural gas, its ports and transit fleets are moving to zero-emission vehicles, and its power plants can now earn renewable credit for burning green hydrogen. Here is the market in numbers.

~2M tHydrogen used in California each year, almost all from fossil gas1
<1%Of the 23,946 drayage trucks registered at the Port of Long Beach that were zero-emission3
$8.25California average diesel price per gallon, week of September 21, 20265
$7–15Per kilogram paid by heavy-duty truck and bus fleets in California; car stations charge $30–3613

Scale

Phase 1 is a fraction of what California already uses.

The market for clean hydrogen starts with replacing the fossil hydrogen the state already consumes, before any growth in vehicles.

California hydrogen, tonnes per year

Hover or tap a bar for the source. Fossil supply in orange, clean supply in teal.

Fossil (natural gas)Clean (electrolytic or renewable)

Mojave Phase 1 would equal about 0.2% of California's current hydrogen use. Even full replacement of today's refinery demand would need hundreds of projects this size.

Ports

One in a hundred port trucks is zero-emission. The goal is all of them.

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach target a fully zero-emission drayage fleet by 2035 and charge a fee on containers moved by conventional trucks.

Port of Long Beach drayage registry, January 2024

Zero-emission (≈1)Conventional (≈99)
23,946trucks in the Long Beach registry; about 15,000 serve the port regularly3
222zero-emission trucks in that registry (0.93%)3
3hydrogen trucks in the Port of Los Angeles system at the same date3
2035ports' target for a fully zero-emission drayage fleet4

Buyer economics

What a port trucker pays per trip.

Set the inputs to compare a diesel truck with a fuel-cell truck on a single container trip. The result is the hydrogen price at which the fuel-cell truck costs the same to run.

Clean Truck Fund rate on the container
Diesel truck
Fuel-cell truck
Fuel only; zero-emission trucks are exempt from the fee.
Hydrogen price at which the fuel-cell truck costs the same per trip

Illustrative fuel-and-fee comparison only. It excludes vehicle, maintenance and incentive costs (such as truck vouchers and Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits, recently about $69 per tonne of CO₂7), and it is not a projection of Mojave Hydrogen Works' prices. Defaults: diesel price5, hydrogen at $10/kg, within the range heavy-duty fleets pay today13 (car stations charge $30–366), fee rate4; truck fuel economy values are typical assumptions you can adjust.

Power

Power plants can now earn renewable credit for green hydrogen.

SB 1350, signed in June 2026 and effective immediately, lets electricity from turbines burning green hydrogen count toward California's Renewables Portfolio Standard, the first law of its kind in the U.S.10 Utilities converting gas plants become a new class of hydrogen buyer.

What a plant needs to qualify

  1. Renewable hydrogen. Made by electrolysis powered by renewable electricity, or from non-fossil feedstocks.10
  2. At least 20% hydrogen in the fuel. The California Energy Commission may set a higher share.10
  3. No double counting. The renewable power used to make the hydrogen cannot be counted toward other targets or rely on unbundled renewable credits.10
  4. Cleaner air. The plant must show lower greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution.10
  5. Hourly matching from 2030. Electrolysis matched hour by hour to renewable generation, as described in the Assembly committee analysis.10
20%minimum green hydrogen share for renewable credit10
60%renewable electricity California utilities must reach by 203011
$800MLADWP conversion of its Scattergood plant to run on hydrogen12
2029Scattergood in service, burning at least 30% hydrogen at start12
For Mojave

The law rewards the kind of supply Mojave is designed to produce. Our electrolyzers run on dedicated solar and batteries on site: bundled renewable power, not purchased credits. LADWP has said it will buy green hydrogen for Scattergood from outside producers.12 Eligibility is determined by the California Energy Commission.

Segments

Six buyers for the same molecule.

Policy timeline

The deadlines that set the pace.

Select a date for detail.

Select a dateEach marker is a rule or target that drives demand for clean fuel.

Location

Between the ports and the interior West.

Cadiz sits just off Interstate 40, with the I-15 and I-10 freight corridors to the north and south.

Ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach~165 mi
Los Angeles-area refineries~165 mi
Inland Empire logistics hub~125 mi
Barstow (I-15 / I-40 junction)~90 mi
Las Vegas~115 mi
Phoenix~210 mi
Interstate 40~13 mi

Straight-line distances from the Cadiz site; road distances are longer. Map is stylized and not to survey accuracy.

Terms

Green, clean and the colors in between.

Hydrogen is described by how it is made. We use “green” for what Mojave produces and “clean” for the wider low-carbon market and the rules that define it.

GreenElectrolysis of water using renewable power. Mojave Phase 1: dedicated on-site solar and battery storage.
GrayMade from natural gas with the CO₂ released. Nearly all of California's hydrogen today.
BlueMade from natural gas with most of the CO₂ captured and stored.
CleanA policy term based on lifecycle carbon intensity, not a color. The federal clean hydrogen production credit pays more the lower the emissions, and can include blue or nuclear-powered hydrogen.

Sources

Where the numbers come from.

  1. Gilani & Sanchez, UC Berkeley, Introduction to the Hydrogen Market in California (2020): ~2 million tons/yr total; refinery captive production ~1.05 million tons (2019); merchant supply to refining ~0.77 million tons.
  2. Clean Air Task Force, U.S. Hydrogen Demand Assessment (Dec 2025): U.S. uses ~14 Mt/yr, ~10 Mt in refining, ~2.5 Mt in ammonia.
  3. FreightWaves, zero-emission drayage trucks at the Port of Long Beach (Jan 2024 data).
  4. San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan and Clean Truck Fund rate, via Container News and cleanairactionplan.org.
  5. U.S. EIA weekly California on-highway diesel price, via weeklydiesel.com: $8.246 (week of Sep 21, 2026); 2026 average to date $6.51.
  6. Hydrogen Fuel Finder: California retail $30–36/kg in early 2025 (True Zero $36; Iwatani and Air Products ~$30).
  7. California Air Resources Board, weekly LCFS credit transfer reports: $69.07/t, week of July 6, 2026.
  8. California Air Resources Board, Innovative Clean Transit regulation; status of truck rules per Alston & Bird (June 2026).
  9. Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association, U.S. fuel cell bus fleets (2026).
  10. SB 1350 (McNerney, 2026), Renewables Portfolio Standard eligibility for hydrogen-fueled generation: Senator McNerney's office (signed June 2026, passed 38–0 and 74–0, urgency statute) and the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee analysis (June 10, 2026).
  11. SB 100 (2018): 60% Renewables Portfolio Standard by 2030 and 100% clean electricity by 2045, per the Assembly committee analysis.
  12. Power Engineering, Scattergood hydrogen transition approved (Nov 2025): $800M, 346 MW, at least 30% hydrogen, in service by Dec 30, 2029; supply from outside producers per Decarbonfuse.
  13. S&P Global Commodity Insights, via Hydrogen Central (July 2024): California heavy-duty hydrogen at $7–15/kg; the Port of Oakland station below $15/kg including subsidies; an indicative $8.75/kg offer for delivered hydrogen to transit buses; light-duty pump prices averaging $33.26/kg.

Figures are from the public sources listed and reflect the dates shown; some are several years old and actual values may differ today. This page is for information only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.

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