Steel Mills
DOE Selects Seven Hydrogen Hub Projects to Receive $7B in Funding
Written by Laura Miller
October 17, 2023
The US Department of Energy announced seven projects that could receive up to $7 billion in funding to establish regional hydrogen hubs across the country.
The funding is part of President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The following projects were chosen to participate in negotiations with the DOE to receive the funds:
- Appalachian Hydrogen Hub (West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania)
- California Hydrogen Hub (California)
- Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub (Texas)
- Heartland Hydrogen Hub (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota)
- Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub (Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey)
- Midwest Hydrogen Hub (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan)
- Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (Washington, Oregon, Montana)
The DOE noted that: “Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.”
“Together with tax incentives in the President’s historic Inflation Reduction Act and ongoing research and development efforts across the Federal government, [this] announcement will help drive private sector investment in clean hydrogen, setting the nation on a course to hit critical long-term decarbonization objectives,” the DOE said in a statement.
Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2)
The selectee for the Midwest hydrogen hub is the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen. Regional steelmakers Cleveland-Cliffs and ArcelorMittal are listed as members on the Alliance website.
Cleveland-Cliffs applauded the announcement of the funding.
The “announcement marks the very beginning of a new era in steel producing,” stated Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves. “With clean hydrogen in our backyard, Cliffs’ hydrogen-ready blast furnaces and direct reduction plant will be first in the world to replace CO2 with a new byproduct that does not contribute to global warming: this new byproduct will be H20.”
“Furthermore, Cliffs’ willingness and ability to offtake a significant portion of the entire production of the hub eliminates the chicken-and-egg dilemma associated with clean hydrogen development and, in doing so, makes hydrogen viable for other industries, including the automotive sector,” Goncalves added.
Cliffs has publicly stated its intention to use more hydrogen in its steelmaking operations. In May, the steelmaker announced it had successfully completed a hydrogen injection trial at its Middletown Works blast furnace.
Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest in Steel Mills
Hot-rolled coil market remains slow, market participants say
Hot rolled spot market participants reported another week of moderate demand and ample supply, with no strong signs that conditions will change next week.
CRU: Blackout knocks out ArcelorMittal mill ‘for months’
Truchas works in Lazaro Cadenas, Michoacan, western Mexico. Repairs may take up to six months.
Nippon Steel posts quarterly loss on cost to buy U.S. Steel
Nippon Steel earnings take hit from buy of U.S. Steel.
Atlas completes Evraz NA deal, renames firm, and hires former USS exec as CEO
Atlas Holdings has completed its acquisition of Evraz North America (Evraz NA) and its subsidiaries.
ArcelorMittal: As tariffs slow global growth, Calvert could be a bright spot
ArcelorMittal expects less demand growth across most of the markets it operates in, including the US, because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But the Luxembourg-based steelmaker also thinks it stands to benefit from an increasingly regionalized world thanks to investments like the new EAF at its mill in Calvert, Ala.