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US closes agreements with last two hydrogen hubs

  • Market: Hydrogen
  • 20/01/25

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has finalized agreements with the last two hydrogen hubs awaiting deals, completing President Joe Biden's vision of establishing seven regional clusters.

The Heartland Hydrogen Hub (HH2H) — which includes projects in the US' Upper Midwest stretching from Montana to Wisconsin — will be eligible for as much as $925mn in federal funding, receiving an initial tranche of $20mn to begin Phase 1 activities. The Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2) could receive as much as $750mn in government dollars for projects centered around decarbonizing operations at the Port of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.

The awards were announced in the final hours of 17 January, the last day of the outgoing presidency. The hubs are part of a $7bn initiative that Biden announced in 2023 to jump-start the domestic hydrogen economy.

HH2H will leverage low-cost wind power to produce hydrogen for fertilizer production and power generation. The hub had suffered a series of high-profile shake ups during negotiations with the federal government, with US crude refiner Marathon Petroleum dropping out and Minnesota-based utility Xcel Energy saying it was looking to revise its original investment plans.

MACH2 is expected to produce hydrogen from a mix of renewable and nuclear power.


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US DOE cancels H2 hub community meetings: Update


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Spain calls for cautious transposition of EU H2 package


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Spain calls for cautious transposition of EU H2 package

Madrid, 5 February (Argus) — Spain must be cautious in its transposition of EU hydrogen legislation, according to the country's recently appointed secretary of state for energy Joan Groizard. "We can do this in a hurry and meet the formal requirements or we can do it in a way that we roll out the legislative framework [that] renewable hydrogen really needs in this country," Groizard said at the Second National Green Hydrogen Congress in Huelva. The EU has set a May deadline for member states to transpose the Renewable Energy Directive RED III into national laws. Trade association Hydrogen Europe's chief policy and market officer Daniel Fraile said many countries are "quite delayed" in this process. Spain still has lots of "homework to do" in transposing EU directives related to hydrogen and wishes to "share it with everyone," through sector participation, according to Groizard. Part of the "homework" that EU member states need to complete by May includes firm targets for hydrogen demand for transport and industry in 2030, which the bloc's Directorate-General for Energy broadly estimates at 3mn-6mn t/yr. The European Commission Energy Platform Task Force's Carlos Alvarez Aguilera said these, together with the support provided by RED III targets for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) to make up 1pc of the final consumption of energy and 1.2pc of marine fuels by 2030, will provide "certainty to investors" that renewable hydrogen is a "tangible reality." Other EU directives that form part of the EU legislative package concerning hydrogen and that require transposition include the fourth renewable gas package, which must brought in by member states by August 2026. By Jonathan Gleave Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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S Korea to invest $89.5mn in net zero, energy security


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05/02/25

S Korea to invest $89.5mn in net zero, energy security

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‘Now more than ever’ for European H2


04/02/25
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04/02/25

‘Now more than ever’ for European H2

Trump's return to office and uncertainty over climate policy in the US could catalyse H2 growth in Europe, strengthening its decarbonisation drive Paris, 4 February (Argus) — Donald Trump's return to the White House last month has brought further uncertainty for the US hydrogen sector. But European industry participants and policymakers have been eager to demonstrate a ‘now more than ever' mentality in the face of a US policy shift. Hydrogen industry events around the world over the past year have been characterised by a rather gloomy mood, as companies scale back investment, projects are cancelled or delayed, and regulations and subsidy mechanisms fall further behind schedule. Trump's plans to roll back climate legislation have added to the uncertainty , while a feeling persists that "climate is not a priority" because of the global political situation, French hydrogen investment firm Hy24's chief investment officer, Amir Sharifi, acknowledged at last week's Hyvolution conference in Paris. But Sharifi noted that more than being merely a decarbonisation tool, "hydrogen is a lever for energy and food security", which strengthens its case. In any event, the "renewables trend is far stronger than Trump" and much larger than the US, Hy24 chief executive Pierre-Etienne Franc said. He noted that other regions have "a vested interest" in advancing decarbonisation goals and pointed to opportunities for countries in South America and Africa, but also for China as the world's largest manufacturer of clean energy technology. For the EU, Trump's return could present an opportunity to strengthen its leadership in the clean energy agenda. Europe takes "climate very seriously", the European Commission's principal advisor at the directorate-general for energy, Tudor Constantinescu, stressed at the event, claiming that Brussels' commitment to strict regulations had made Europe the world's leading hydrogen market. And at Spanish gas system transmission operator Enagas' Hydrogen Day on 29 January, Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, pledged to go "green, baby, green" — a reference to Trump's "drill, baby, drill" mantra. The EU's Competitiveness Compass, published the same day, was widely praised by delegates at the Paris event, even as it makes few direct references to hydrogen. The document outlines a roadmap towards simplifying regulations, permitting rules and state aid to strengthen decarbonisation and industrialisation efforts. It is to be followed soon by more detailed action plans for key energy-intensive sectors, such as steel and chemicals production. The EU is also set to refine its approach towards the hydrogen sector specifically, after meeting participants in January, industry group Hydrogen Europe chief executive Jorgo Chatzimarkakis said. Brussels will look to create "lead markets" for key offtake sectors, such as refineries, steel and fertilisers, he said. Still, delegates were clear that major challenges persist. With production costs for renewable hydrogen still many times higher than for conventional supply, project financing remains hard to come by, they said. For many firms, "there is now less money than before for [the] energy transition", which makes smart use of resources all the more important, French industrial gas firm Air Liquide's hydrogen energy world business line vice-president, Erwin Penfornis, said. But some delegates pointed to silver linings on the cost front, too. Sharifi said a downward trend in interest rates is starting to take shape, potentially paving the way towards improved financing conditions in the coming months. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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