Offshore wind industry joining U.S. multi-state plan for Northeast Clean Hydrogen Hub

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a 50:50 U.S. partnership between Shell and EDF Renewables, has joined the Northeast Clean Hydrogen Hub, a major multi-state initiative in the U.S. that plans to develop a proposal to become one of up to 10 regional clean hydrogen hubs in the country.

The developer of a 1.5 GW offshore wind project in New Jersey and WINDEA CTV add two new names to the companies and organisations from the offshore wind industry who joined the initiative earlier, including Avangrid, Dominion Energy, EDP Renewables, Equinor, Eversource Energy, National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC), and Ørsted.

The two companies were listed among the newest members of the Northeast Clean Hydrogen Hub in a press release from the New York Governor’s office on 9 February, announcing Vermont had also signed on to a multi-state agreement, bringing the number of states behind the initiative to seven.

Along with New York and Vermont, the states working together on a proposal for the Northeast Clean Hydrogen Hub are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

With 47 further companies and organisations joining since August 2022, the initiative now also counts more than 100 clean hydrogen ecosystem partners, from electrolyser manufacturers and end users such as the aviation industry to ports and utilities.

The seven states, together with their partners from across the industry and academia, plan to develop and submit a full proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to compete for funding through the USD 8 billion programme for the creation of regional clean hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs), funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The U.S. government announced the clean hydrogen programme at the beginning of 2022 and New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey signed an agreement to jointly develop a proposal for a Regional Clean Energy Hydrogen Hub shortly after that.

In September 2022, the Department of Energy issued an initial Clean Hydrogen Hubs Funding Opportunity Announcement with concept papers due on 7 November last year. Under the call, proposals may be awarded up to a maximum of USD 1.25 billion.

The Northeast Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub received notification from the DOE to move forward with full proposal development on 27 December 2022, with submissions due by 7 April 2023, according to the New York State’s government.

The seven-state coalition, led by New York, says its focus is on coordinating the regional fuel cell innovation ecosystem, integrating offshore wind and solar photovoltaic materials into hydrogen production and deploying hydrogen for use in transportation, heavy industry, power generation, and maritime applications, or other appropriate uses consistent with decarbonisation efforts.

“With planned development, offshore wind can be a major contributor to the partnership and ultimately hydrogen production and storage”, Executive Director of the National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium, Carrie Cullen Hitt, said last year.

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