To lower the price of clean-hydrogen technology, the US Department of Energy (DOE) plans to release $750 million in funding.
The initiatives that will be supported by this FOA are in accordance with Section 40314 of the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” which added new Sections 815 and 816 to Title VIII of the “Energy Policy Act” (EPAct) of 2005. These new Sections deal with “Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing and Recycling” and “Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program,” respectively.
For the five-year period covering Fiscal Years (FYs) 2022 through 2026, the BIL will invest $1 billion for the development of electrolyzers and $500 million for the development of production and recycling of clean hydrogen technology through these provisions. The programs created in accordance with these provisions will be completely comprised of this FOA.
Other program activities will include support for national laboratories, Small Business Innovative Research initiatives, Prizes, and additional FOAs or other funding sources, in addition to this FOA (which comprises up to $750 million of the total $1.5B). These initiatives will help the larger, national strategy to advance clean hydrogen technologies.
The planned FOA will promote RD&D, manufacture, and demonstration of reasonably priced hydrogen technologies, in keeping with the goals specified in the draft national clean hydrogen strategy and roadmap from the DOE. By 2030, 20 MMT of clean hydrogen will be produced annually, followed by 50 MMT of clean hydrogen annually by 2040, according to the draft roadmap.
The following goals will be supported by the Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis, Manufacturing, and Recycling FOA:
- By 2026, the price of electrolyzed clean hydrogen should be less than $2 per kilogram.
- Develop fresh manufacturing methods and equipment for producing clean hydrogen, particularly for electrolyzer and fuel cell systems.
- To enhance the reuse and recycling of clean hydrogen technologies, conduct research, develop new strategies, and put them on display.
These investments will hasten the technical advancements and scale-up required to reach DOE’s Hydrogen Shot goal of $1 per kilogram of clean hydrogen within a decade. These investments will work in conjunction with the regional clean hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs), tax incentives in the “Inflation Reduction Act,” and ongoing research, development, and demonstration in the DOE Hydrogen Program.
Projects funded through this opportunity, which are overseen by DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), will address underlying technical cost reduction barriers that cannot be overcome by scale alone and ensure that emerging commercial-scale deployments will be viable with future lower-cost, higher-performing technology.
