The U.S. Department of Energy on Oct. 13 announced $7 billion in funding to launch seven regional clean hydrogen hubs across the nation.
The seven hubs are expected to collectively produce three million metric tons of hydrogen annually, reaching nearly a third of the 2030 U.S. production target and lowering emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors that represent 30 percent of total U.S. carbon emissions, according to the federal agency.
DOE’s $7 billion of federal investment in clean hydrogen will be met with the hub selectees’ cost share of more than $40 billion.
DOE noted that clean hydrogen can be produced from a diverse mix of domestic clean energy resources, including renewables, nuclear, and fossil resources with carbon capture. It could also be used as a form of long-duration energy storage to support the expansion of renewable power.
Selected projects for negotiation include:
- Appalachian Hydrogen Hub (Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2); West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania) (Amount: up to $925 million)
- California Hydrogen Hub (Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES); California). (Amount: up to $1.2 billion)
- Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub (HyVelocity H2Hub; Texas) (Amount: up to $1.2 billion)
- Heartland Hydrogen Hub (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota). (Amount: up to $925 million)
- Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub (Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2); Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey) (Amount: up to $750 million)
- Midwest Hydrogen Hub (Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2); Illinois, Indiana, Michigan) (Amount: up to $1 billion)
- Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNW H2; Washington, Oregon, Montana) (Amount: up to $1 billion)
Learn more about the seven H2Hubs selected for award negotiations here.
California
ARCHES notes on its website that its partners include leaders in energy research, communities, trades, utilities, for-profit companies and nongovernmental organizations.
Public power communities, utilities and entities that are ARCHES partners are:
- SMUD
- City of Riverside
- City of Lodi
- City of Los Angeles (LADWP)
- Northern California Power Agency
Northern California Power Agency
The Northern California Power Agency noted that its Lodi Energy Center Hydrogen Project, located in Lodi, California, was included as a Tier I project in the ARCHES application and proposal to DOE “as we look to produce and integrate hydrogen to generate power, fuel for medium and heavy-duty trucks on adjacent interstate highway corridors, and support emissions reduction goals for shipping and general operations at the Port of Oakland.”
The project also offers research and development and training related to the transmission of hydrogen across California’s existing natural gas pipelines.
NCPA has partnered with the City of Lodi, Siemens Energy, the University of California Riverside, the Port of Oakland, Pacific Gas and Electric, GHD, and Rosen to create a project that will demonstrate the use of hydrogen across multiple applications including power supply, transportation, port operations, and research and development opportunities as noted above.
NCPA’s on-site Lodi Energy Center 300 MW natural gas facility, dedicated in 2012, “is already among the cleanest power plants in the country due to its fast-ramping capability which helps to facilitate the integration of intermittent renewables into California’s energy mix,” it said.
Today, the plant has been upgraded with technology installed to operate on up to a 45% hydrogen blend, and according to NCPA’s technology partner, Siemens Energy, it will be capable of operating fully on hydrogen by 2028.
The production of hydrogen on-site will be powered by excess renewable energy. The hydrogen will then power the Lodi Energy Center.
“The inclusion of the Lodi Energy Center Hydrogen Project as a Tier I project in the ARCHES application approved today means that the economic and environmental benefits of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will benefit both Northern and Southern California,” said NCPA General Manager Randy Howard.
“We look forward to bringing benefits to the community, as well as developing training and preparing the workforce of the future to build these new technologies that are essential to meeting our state’s decarbonization goals.”
LADWP
“This federal funding will help launch a hydrogen hub here in Southern California and will greatly help accelerate LA’s conversion to clean, critical generation right here in the LA basin,” said Martin Adams, LADWP General Manager and Chief Engineer. “This is a win for the environment and for LADWP’s power customers who want and need an affordable path to a clean energy future.”
LADWP’s Scattergood Modernization Project was a key project listed in the ARCHES application. Scattergood is considered a key hydrogen enabler and an anchor project in ARCHES.
SMUD
In August, Mote Inc. said it had received $1.2 million in grant funding to establish its second biomass-to-hydrogen and carbon-sequestration plant in partnership with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, a California public power utility.
As Mote’s hydrogen partner for the second facility in Sacramento, SMUD and Mote have been collaborating on the project development.
The grant funding is from the U.S. Forest Service, the California Department of Conservation and the California Department of Forestry.
Upon completion, the facility would produce approximately 21,000 metric tons per year of carbon-negative hydrogen for use in thermal power generation and transportation.
California community choice aggregators MCE and East Bay Community Energy are also ARCHES partners.
PUD No. 1 of Douglas County
The Washington State Department of Commerce on Oct. 13 noted that among the entities having projects proposed as part of the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub is Washington State’s Douglas County PUD.
Douglas County Public Utility District in Washington State earlier this year moved ahead with the second phase of its green hydrogen project. Specifically, Douglas County PUD Commissioners Ronald Skagen, Aaron Viebrock and Molly Simpson recently approved the purchase of a second 5-megawatt electrolyzer. Delivery of the second electrolyzer is expected to take 24 months.
Project Management Oversight
DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations manages the program and will provide project management oversight for the projects selected to produce clean hydrogen; demonstrate end uses; generate training opportunities and good-paying, high-quality jobs; reduce emissions and pollution; and ensure tangible benefits flow to local Hub communities.
Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.
APPA Hydrogen Report
In order to provide additional information about the emerging hydrogen market in the U.S. and globally, APPA completed a report for its members. The report also looks at what is driving the growing interest in hydrogen and what obstacles are preventing hydrogen technology from being able to scale-up.
