More applications are going toward the Clean Hydrogen Hub competition that will allocate $8 billion for hydrogen hub development. The program is part of the federal infrastructure bill designed to rebuild the economy. Four states – New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut formed a consortium to become one of at least four hydrogen hubs to receive support from the government.
The states agreed to work with about 40 organizations including clean energy companies, utilities and universities to create plans for a regional hydrogen hub as part of a push to curb greenhouse-gas emissions.
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The goal is to produce clean gasses like hydrogen that do not produce emissions during production and utilization for energy and heating unlike currently used fossil fuel sources.
“New York is proud to lead the way in forming bold partnerships to combat the existential threat of climate change… Expanding the hydrogen market is critical to New York’s aggressive pursuit of clean-energy alternatives that will supercharge our economy and advance our climate goals,” said Governor Hochul regarding the proposal for the Clean Hydrogen Hub competition.
The city is pushing to achieve its agenda of reducing emissions. New York’s goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050 and become a leader in green hydrogen development. Biden’s aggressive clean energy agenda is allocating government funding to states across the country so that they could decarbonize their economies. That agenda is now attracting increased industry attention.
Some participants in the consortium are utilities like Consolidated Edison Inc., National Grid Plc and hydrogen energy companies like Plug Power Inc. and Bloom Energy Corp. along with schools including Columbia University and Cornell University. Consortium partners have agreed to collaborate with NYSERDA, NYPA, and ESD on the development of the hydrogen hub.
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The green hydrogen company Plug Power, for example, is already building a plant northeast of Buffalo to produce green hydrogen. The company also has a facility in Rochester for the production of electrolyzers needed to separate hydrogen from water. It plans to incorporate its plans for green hydrogen development into the proposal for New York to host one of the hubs.
New York is one of the states willing to be among the front runners in the green energy transition. Expanding hydrogen is also one of the city’s strategies in its pursuit of clean energy alternatives. Major US organizations uniting to develop a framework for hydrogen innovation, production and infrastructure show the benefits stemming from the government taking bold actions toward climate change mitigation.
