Seven new public-private partnerships spanning 16 states will receive $7 billion in funding for the DOE’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program (H2Hubs), which was created by the bipartisan infrastructure law.
The seven chosen hubs will attract approximately $40 billion in private funding,
A combined public and private investment of nearly $50 billion that will reduce emissions across sectors of the U.S. economy including power, industry, building heating, and transportation.
Combined, they’ll create more than 330,000 direct jobs and produce 3 million metric tons of clean hydrogen a year.
Total emissions reductions could be the equivalent of over 5.5 million cars.
What’s clear: “Today’s energy and national security crisis is driving calls for increased American energy leadership,” said Rich Powell, CEO of ClearPath. “Accelerating the hydrogen industry forward with these hubs allows the U.S. to leverage domestic energy resources while reducing emissions.”
Appalachia – Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2): $925 million for regional natural gas with carbon capture and storage (CCUS) to produce hydrogen, new hydrogen pipelines, and hydrogen fueling stations across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.
California – Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES): $1.2 billion for renewable and biomass hydrogen production, heavy-duty trucking, and port operations in California.
Gulf Coast – HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub: $1.2 billion for regional natural gas with CCUS and renewable hydrogen production to benefit local industry in Texas.
Heartland – Heartland Hydrogen Hub: $925 million to create clean fertilizer for the agricultural sector as well as use clean hydrogen for electric generation and space heating in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Mid-Atlantic – Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2): $750 million for renewable- and nuclear-powered hydrogen production in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.
Midwest – Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2): $1 billion for renewable, nuclear, and natural gas hydrogen production for use in steel and glass manufacturing, power generation, refining, heavy-duty trucking, and sustainable aviation fuel in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Pacific Northwest – Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNW H2): $1 billion for renewable-powered hydrogen production in Washington, Oregon and Montana.
What’s next: The U.S. Department of Treasury must issue guidance on the 45V Hydrogen Production Tax Credit that complements these public-private partnerships and further enables hydrogen as a clean energy solution across the American economy.
2. Holtec filing with NRC for Palisades Plant restart
Holtec International announced they submitted a filing with the NRC to begin federal approval of operations at the 800-megawatt Palisades Power Plant in Covert Township, Michigan.
During its former operation, the plant paid over $10 million in property taxes annually to support local schools, law enforcement, parks, and other community resources.
The revived plant will employ over 600 personnel and will create over $500 million in secondary economic activity within the Covert Township area.
3. HALEU in the USA
This week, ClearPath’s CEO Rich Powell and Chief Strategy Officer Jeremy Harrell visited Centrus Energy in Piketon, Ohio where its facility started enrichment operations for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Centrus met every required milestone on time and on budget, and is starting production two months earlier than scheduled. It will complete its first phase of start-up, and produce 20 kilograms of fuel, by December
of this year.
This is the first new U.S.-owned uranium enrichment plant to begin production since 1954.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released its annual report, exposing a clear bottleneck in the international uranium market – over half of uranium enrichment today is dominated by Russia and its allies.
Many advanced nuclear companies will rely on HALEU fuel to power their reactors.
The U.S. can be a global supplier with more investment and international cooperation.
Pictured: Rich Powell and Jeremy Harrell at Centrus Energy in Piketon, Ohio.
What’s clear: This announcement from Centrus marks a huge milestone in domestic, advanced nuclear fuel production. However, advanced reactors require tons of fuel, not kilograms, and improved nuclear fuel policies, such as the Nuclear Fuel Security Act, are necessary to encourage the expansion of HALEU facilities like Centrus.
4. Direct air capture in Saudi Arabia
Following last week’s direct air capture (DAC) announcement in the United Arab Emirates, Aramco and Siemens AG have created a partnership with the shared aim to build a pilot plant for DAC in Saudi Arabia.
Both companies agreed that Saudi Arabia would be the prime location for this plant, as it is the biggest oil producer in the Middle East.
This collaboration will provide a platform for these companies to experiment and discover new ways of tackling emissions.
What’s clear: There’s already a lot of extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. DAC, sort of like a massive vacuum cleaner, literally sucks CO2 molecules out of the open air.
