Three US Hydrogen Hubs Gain First Tranche of DOE Funding Millions

U.S. Energy Dept. has released funding to hubs in California, the Pacific Northwest and Appalachia funding to support engineering, community engagement and other early work for regional networks to produce cleaner hydrogen for industrial and other uses.

NOTE: Hub region boundaries shown in map may have changed.

Map: Courtesy of US Energy Dept.

Three regional U.S. clean hydrogen production hubs—of seven picked last year by the U.S. Energy Dept. to negotiate for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal support to boost project development—are the first to receive initial funding awards, the agency announced. DOE says hubs would leverage the public funding into billions of added private investment.

The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub gains $30 million of $925 million it negotiated with DOE to start 11 projects in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, with Battelle as program manager and TRC Cos. among firms supporting their development.

The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub gained $27.5 million of up to $1 billion allocated to plan a hydrogen “ecosystem” in Washington, Oregon and Montana, with AtkinsRéalis named as program manager; while the California Hydrogen Hub received $30 million of its $1.2-billion federal cost share to start work on 10 hydrogen production facilities, with Jacobs selected as program manager, according to the hubs and the companies.

As the Biden Administration ramps up clean-energy federal funding in advance of the 2024 election, DOE also said Aug. 30 it will invest nearly $62 million in "next-generation" clean hydrogen technologies—with 20 projects selected in 15 states.

"Most of the funds are dedicated to "low-cost, standardized and replaceable" hydrogen fueling stations for commercial-scale trucks, the agency said.

Four station projects in New York, Connecticut, California and Arizona will receive most of the funding, about $40 million; with about $8.5 million for projects in Washington, North Carolina, Illinois and Massachusetts to develop "advanced components" used in hydrogen fueling; $7 million for seven projects to identify siting, permitting and installation challenges in hydrogen production; $4 million to improve community engagement in hydrogen technology implementation; and $2.5 million for a Georgia port project that will demonstrate a hydrogen fuel cell "top loader" for containers and a mobile refueler at the Port of Oakland, Calif.

As ENR Editor-at-Large for Energy, Business and Workforce, Debra K. Rubin has a broad vantage for news, issues and trends in global engineering and construction related to key areas of global energy development and transition, corporate business and management, regulation and risk and next-generation workforce development.

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