Vaibhav Desai, MEng

Hydrogen, SAF, Methanol, EFuels, Clean Energy Infrastructure & Procurement, Techno-Economic Modeling, Data Center Decarbonization

Vaibhav is a clean fuels engineer and energy infrastructure advisor with nearly 20 years of experience spanning industrial hydrogen operations, utility-scale clean energy strategy, and early-stage venture building. He supports engineering-led firms, investors, and asset owners on hydrogen, methanol, and SAF project decisions, with a focus on techno-economic analysis, pre-FEED readiness, and execution-risk clarity before capital is committed.

Vaibhav served as Director of CleanFuels Engineering & Corporate Development at Xcel Energy, where he helped secure the $925M DOE Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (Xcel’s $425M anchor role) and led clean fuels strategy across hydrogen, SAF, methanol, ammonia, and RNG. Prior to Xcel, Vaibhav spent 12 years at Linde (Praxair) progressing through engineering and operational leadership roles. He managed reliability and process optimization across multiple hydrogen and CO₂ facilities, held a corporate reliability role supporting bulk and onsite gases operations, and led enterprise-wide Process Safety Management programs.

He is Founder & Principal of Sattva Energy, where he is building an AI-native clean fuels techno-economic modeling platform covering hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, and SAF production pathways, project economics, and global policy incentives, delivering faster, more defensible analysis for project developers and investors. He was Co-Founder of KonsciousPlanet Technologies and has published in Decarbonisation Technology (August 2025). He earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India, and a Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, USA. Contact Vaibhav.