US hydrogen industry gets $750m boost to accelerate large-scale deployments

Fifty-two projects across 24 US states are being given a $750 million shot in the arm to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen and grow America’s presence in the field.

Announced on Wednesday, the US Department of Energy (DOE) says it planned to accelerate hydrogen technology breakthroughs, cut costs and support hydrogen hubs and other large-scale deployments. The move is part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which seeks to reinforce US global leadership in a growing clean hydrogen industry.

The projects are funded by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will help advance electrolysis technologies and improve manufacturing and recycling capabilities for clean hydrogen systems and components.

Jobs and clean power hopes

Directly supporting more than 1,500 new jobs, the 52 projects are expected to enable US manufacturing capacity to produce 14 gigawatts of fuel cells per year – enough to power 15% of medium- and heavy-duty trucks sold each year – and 10 gigawatts of electrolysers annually, sufficient to produce an additional 1.3 million tons of clean hydrogen per year.

Advancing zero or near-zero emissions clean hydrogen is a key component of President Biden’s plan to tackle the climate crisis, create well paid jobs, and strengthen the country’s manufacturing and industrial competitiveness. 

The announcement reinforces the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to accelerating the deployment of clean hydrogen, as laid out in the US National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, and coordinated by the Hydrogen Interagency Task Force.

Goal to supercharge hydrogen presence

US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said the Administration is propelling an American-led clean hydrogen economy that is “delivering good-paying, high-quality jobs and accelerating a manufacturing renaissance in communities across America”.

She added: “The projects will supercharge our progress and ensure our leadership in clean hydrogen will be felt across the nation for generations to come.”

Together with the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs), tax incentives in the President’s Inflation Reduction Act, and ongoing research, development, and demonstration in the DOE Hydrogen Programme, these investments will help DOE achieve its ambitious Hydrogen Shot goal of reducing the cost of producing clean hydrogen to $1 per kg.

Where the cash is going

The $750 million support will advance clean hydrogen technologies in low-cost, high-throughput electrolyser manufacturing (eight projects, $316m); electrolyser component and supply chain development (10 projects, $81m); advanced technology and component development (18 projects, $72m); advanced manufacturing of fuel cell assemblies and stacks (five projects, $150m); fuel cell supply chain development (10 projects, $82m); and recovery and recycling consortium (one project, $50m).