On July 5, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Development (OCED) announced a Request for Information to inform the DOE's efforts to design a demand-side support mechanism for its Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program (H2Hubs). Information obtained through this process will support a future Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) entitled "Implementing Entity (or Entities) for Demand-side Support Mechanism for Clean Hydrogen Hub Projects" that the DOE expects to issue later this summer/early fall. The DOE ultimately intends to commit up to $1 billion to fund entities implementing a demand-side support mechanism to "facilitate bankable clean hydrogen demand" for the H2Hubs to "enable private sector financing and expedite progress to Final Investment Decision for H2Hubs." This follows the $6-7 billion commitment the DOE initially announced in 2022 for the H2Hubs.
The DOE seeks stakeholder comments on how it can most effectively catalyze durable, bankable demand for clean energy at the H2Hubs, as well as on the competitive process it should use to select projects to receive demand-side support, especially in relation to other forms of public support received by H2Hubs projects. It also solicits information on the best structure for demand-side support for a mature commodity market for clean hydrogen and feedback on how it should implement demand-side support mechanisms. Responses to the DOE's inquiry are due by 5:00 p.m. ET on July 24, 2023.
Funding for the demand-side support mechanism, as well as the H2Hubs the mechanism is intended to support, are derived from Section 40313 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which authorizes and appropriates a total of $8 billion for the Secretary of Energy to support the H2Hubs development. Applications for H2Hubs were due on April 7, 2023, and the DOE has not yet identified the funding recipients. A detailed discussion of the $1.2 trillion in government funding for infrastructure programs made available in IIJA published by Akin after its passage can be found here.
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