(Washington / USA) – The US Department of Energy (DOE) is launching the development of regional clean hydrogen centers, called “H2Hub”. The plan is to build networks for hydrogen producers and consumers as well as create local infrastructure to accelerate the use of the energy source. 
According to a notice declared as a “Notice of Intent”, the DOE wants to provide funds totaling eight billion dollars (2026 billion euros) for the project over a period of five years until 7,4.
“Hydrogen can rapidly reduce emissions from many carbon-intensive industrial sectors,” said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. This also includes heavy-duty transport and steel production, which opens up “completely new economic opportunities in the area of clean energy across the country”.
“Clean” is not the same as “green”
According to the DOE, around ten million tons of hydrogen are currently produced annually in the USA, and around 90 million tons per year worldwide. U.S. production currently relies largely on natural gas and steam reforming. Electrolysis technology will now be increasingly used to produce clean hydrogen.
However, unlike Europeans, Americans do not understand “clean” hydrogen as just its production using renewable energies. Hydrogen, which is produced from nuclear power, is also “clean” in the sense of US policy.
Funding is part of the infrastructure law
The planned hydrogen centers, along with funding, are based on the infrastructure law signed by President Joseph R. Biden last November (“Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act“, also known as “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” (BIL). This is a key part of Biden's plan to decarbonize the industrial sector, which accounts for a third of domestic carbon emissions. The draft law led to power struggles between Democrats and Republicans at the time. The version ultimately approved by Congress enables investments in transport, environmental and energy projects to an unprecedented amount of 1,2 trillion dollars (1,02 trillion euros) - including the said eight billion dollars for the H2Hubs.
Diversity of use and new jobs
According to the US portal “Utility Dive”, the DOE is currently planning six to ten such hydrogen hubs across the country, financed with federal funds of up to $1,25 billion each. The criteria for selecting regional hydrogen centers may still change slightly in detail. But some framework conditions are already considered to be in place.
According to a draft policy ("Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Implementation Strategy") from March of this year, the DOE will select at least one center for the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels, one for renewable energy and one for nuclear energy. Developers who bring together numerous partners and different technologies under the umbrella of a central project management would be preferred.
The BIL also defines further criteria that the Ministry of Energy should apply when selecting H2Hubs:
- Diversity of use: What is required is at least one hub for the use of clean hydrogen in electricity generation, one for the industrial sector, one hub in the heating sector for private households and businesses and one hub for the transport sector.
- Geographic Diversity: Each center must be located in a different region of the United States and utilize energy resources that are abundant there.
- Natural Gas: At least two hubs must be located in regions of the United States that have the largest natural gas resources.
In addition, the Ministry of Energy prefers H2Hubs that offer opportunities for qualified training and long-term employment to a large number of residents in the respective region.
The race for locations is on
The race for locations should be exciting. Funding alone is not a guarantee of economic prosperity - but it's not just a fool's errand either. Therefore, both industry and private sector organizations are positioning themselves for the best places - and the states.
For example, the governors of Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas have come together to collectively throw their hat into the ring. In a statement it said that the neighbors wanted to apply in a coordinated manner as a location for a regional hydrogen center.
Louisiana – as a coastal state and geographically extremely vulnerable to flood disasters and extreme weather – has already done the groundwork. A 172-page “Climate Action Plan” published in February not only identifies the risks that the state faces from climate change, but also sets out a number of measures to reduce CO2 emissions. This includes, among other things, significant investments in new (green) hydrogen and solar projects, in electricity networks, energy efficiency, electromobility and infrastructure measures - to name just a few measures - which is estimated to create 111.000 new jobs by 2030 and 263.000 jobs by 2050.
According to media reports, other states are already forming cross-party coalitions. New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey signed an agreement to jointly develop a proposal for a regional hydrogen center for clean energy, the specialist portal “Offshore Wind” knows.
In addition, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming have also joined forces to also apply as H2Hub. Others want to become clean hydrogen hubs as individual states, including Texas, West Virginia and Ohio.
Financing hydrogen projects in California
At the end of May, the California Senate even unanimously passed a law (Senate Bill 1075) that provides for the mobilization of funds from the state treasury to support clean hydrogen projects as well as the acquisition and allocation of funds for a regional clean hydrogen center.
The bill was introduced on February 15 - on that day, the Biden-Harris administration first announced the establishment of regional hubs for clean hydrogen along with $8 billion in funding.
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Department of Energy, DOE. © Wikimedia
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US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm / © DOE
