The Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems and the U.S. Department of Energy on July 17 announced the signing of a $12.6 billion agreement, including up to $1.2 billion from the DOE and $11.4 billion in public and private matching funds, to build and expand clean energy infrastructure across California.
The agreement follows California’s selection last October as one of seven awardees of the DOE’s regional clean hydrogen hubs.
ARCHES is the first of the seven H2Hubs to officially sign their agreement with the DOE.
ARCHES projects will span statewide, covering the full hydrogen lifecycle from production to use, including, but not limited to:
- Renewable Hydrogen Production: More than 10 sites will produce enough clean renewable hydrogen to fuel the projects below and kickstart the buildout of the greater hydrogen ecosystem.
- Ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles & Oakland: These projects will replace diesel-powered cargo-handling equipment with hydrogen fuel cell equivalents and associated fueling infrastructure.
- Heavy Duty Trucks and Transit Buses: ARCHES plans to build over 60 hydrogen fueling stations to enable over 5,000 Class 6-8 fuel cell electric trucks and over 1,000 fuel cell electric buses.
- Clean Power: Both the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Northern California Power Agency will transition key power plants to 100 percent renewable hydrogen. Distributed fuel cells will be used to support grid operations throughout the state and to provide resilience in key regions of the state, including on the Federally Recognized reservation of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians.
- Scripps Marine Vessel: A first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered 140-foot, 50-person marine research vessel will use liquid hydrogen to replace tens of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel per year.
In the coming weeks, ARCHES will be announcing additional projects and partners that will receive hub funding.
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.
