The US Department of Energy (DoE) has announced up to $2.2 billion for two Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs): the HyVelocity Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub in Texas and the Gulf Coast, and the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen Hub (MachH2) in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan. It said it will allocate up to $1.2 billion for HyVelocity and up to $1 billion for MachH2. “These awards follow three previously awarded H2Hubs, and together, they will help drive private sector investment in clean hydrogen, setting the nation on a course to hit critical long-term decarbonization objectives,” said the DoE. GTI administers the HyVelocity Hub, sponsored by AES, Air Liquide, Chevron, ExxonMobil, MHI Hydrogen Infrastructure, and Ørsted. The MachH2 hub consists of eight projects led by nine subrecipients, including Air Liquide and BP.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the DoE have issued a call for commercialization partners to accelerate the market development of hydrogen fuel cell technologies. The DoE said the initiative aims to leverage its Lab Innovator 2.0 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (L'Innovator 2.0) to move innovations from LANL, supported by the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, into the commercial market.
Hydrogen Europe and H2 Chile have agreed to develop new trade opportunities between the European Union and Chile. Hydrogen Europe said the partnership aims to facilitate industry-to-industry and public-private exchanges, focusing on regulatory frameworks, trade, financing, and best practices in research and innovation, skills development, and value creation.
Air Liquide said it will invest €50 million ($52 million) in a new hydrogen packaging and delivery supply chain in the Normandy industrial basin in France. The new site will receive renewable hydrogen from Air Liquide’s 200 MW Normand’Hy electrolyzer, currently under construction. The French company said it will allocate about one-quarter of the electrolyzer's capacity to decarbonized transportation along the Seine Axis, while the remaining capacity will serve customers in the Normandy industrial basin, including TotalEnergies' refinery in Gonfreville, France.
Centrica and FTI Consulting said in a new report that a future UK energy system without a hydrogen market would leave the country vulnerable to large fluctuations in renewable electricity generation, with no alternatives to address shortfalls or surpluses. The report also found that large-scale hydrogen storage could cut energy costs for consumers by up to GBP 1 billion ($1.3 billion) per year by 2050, requiring both salt caverns and depleted gas fields. Centrica recently collaborated on a whitepaper with Bosch and Ceres, calling for more support for the hydrogen market.
