DOE Awards $38.8M to Heartland, Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hubs

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) awarded the final two clean hydrogen hubs: the Heartland Hydrogen Hub and Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub (MACH2). Both will begin Phase 1 activities, with Heartland receiving $20 million and MACH2 receiving $18.8 million of the $925 million and $750 million federal cost shares, respectively.

Map of U.S. regional hydrogen hubs; image credit: Becht

Heartland Hydrogen Hub

The Heartland Hydrogen Hub contains planned sites across Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin—a region recognized for agriculture, mineral mining, and energy production. Led by the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center, the Hub will use new and pre-existing energy resources and infrastructure to produce commercial-scale quantities of clean hydrogen for low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer.

Phase 1 activities include initial planning, design, and community and labor engagement. The region’s low-carbon, commercial-scale hydrogen supply will, lowering costs for farmers and reducing CO₂ emissions by 525,000 metric tons per year—equivalent to eliminating the emissions of over 120,000 gasoline-powered cars per year.

MACH2

MACH2’s clean hydrogen will be used in industrial applications, such as power generation, replacement fuel for process heaters, and heavy-duty transportation. This includes multiple refueling stations to serve sanitation trash trucks, street sweepers, cargo handling equipment, and fuel cell-equipped electric buses. Phase 1 will also conduct initial planning, design, and community and labor engagement activities.

This Hub will develop and establish hydrogen production facilities equipped with established and upcoming electrolyzer technologies, which may minimize costs and accelerate further electrolyzer adoption. MACH2, located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 1 million metric tons per year.

Hydrogen Hub News

In December 2024, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Hydrogen Infrastructure (MHI H2I) signed an agreement with the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association and the Boardman Hydrogen Hub project to accelerate the region’s clean hydrogen infrastructure and technologies deployment. The agreement advances MHI H2I’s project development efforts and enables access to funding from OCED. Mitsubishi Power Americas will leverage its hydrogen technology and solutions for hub development and to satisfy the DOE’s clean-energy goals.

MHI H2I’s Node 6, in collaboration with Portland General Electric and Williams, will use hydrogen for dispatchable electricity generation. It will also deliver hydrogen to Node 3 for liquefaction and supply into the heavy-duty transportation sector. This node will produce hydrogen via electrolysis and peak power generation with 100% hydrogen-capable turbines. Node 6 infrastructure includes:

• Hydrogen pipeline to provide long-duration energy storage for the power plant
• Hydrogen delivery pipeline to Node 3, located approximately 20 miles from the production site

And, in August 2024, OCED provided up to $925 million to fund the development of a clean hydrogen hub in Appalachia. OCED and the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) will create an economically viable hydrogen ecosystem within the region, attracting private sector investment and employing local communities impacted by the energy transition.

ARCH2’s regional benefits include:

• Clean hydrogen production to decarbonize sectors such as manufacturing and transportation
• Thousands of new jobs and training for local energy workers
• 40% of overall program benefits are allocated to communities impacted by underinvestment and pollution