As part of President Biden’s ‘Investing in America’ agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded up to $2.2 billion to two regional clean hydrogen hubs.
DOE is committing up to $1.2 billion of federal cost share for the Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub, led by HyVelocity (HyV), and up to $1 billion of federal cost share for the Midwest Hydrogen Hub, led by the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2).
Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub plans to leverage the Gulf Coast region’s renewable energy and natural gas supply to drive down the cost of hydrogen and proposes to produce clean hydrogen from both water through electrolysis and from natural gas while utilizing carbon capture and storage. This H2Hub expects to create approximately 45,000 direct jobs over the project’s lifetime.
Midwest Hydrogen Hub plans to leverage energy sources, including renewable wind energy, natural gas and nuclear energy, to support the decarbonization of industries and heavy-duty transportation across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Michigan. The hub anticipates creating approximately 12,000 direct jobs over the project’s lifetime.
The two awardees are said to be “critical pillars” of DOE’s H2Hubs program, which was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to kickstart a national network of clean hydrogen producers, consumers and connective infrastructure while supporting the production, storage, delivery and end-use of clean hydrogen.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm commented: “Today’s announcement marks a major milestone in DOE’s Hydrogen Hubs program, signaling our deep commitment to strengthening America’s energy security and boosting our economic and global competitiveness while also tackling the climate crisis.”
To remind, in 2023, the US DOE announced the selection of seven hubs to receive $7 billion in funding to accelerate the domestic market for low-cost, clean hydrogen. Besides Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub and Midwest Hydrogen Hub, three hubs were granted funding: Appalachian Hydrogen Hub, California Hydrogen Hub and Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub. The remaining two, Heartland Hydrogen Hub and Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub are under award negotiation.
The seven selected H2Hubs are expected to collectively produce millions of metric tons of hydrogen annually, thereby getting the country closer to reaching the 2030 production target and lowering emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors that represent 30% of total U.S. carbon emissions. Together, the hubs will also reduce tens of millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from end-uses each year and create and retain tens of thousands of good-paying jobs across the country while supporting healthier communities, DOE claimed.