Pacific Northwest Moves into Phase 1 Award Status for Clean Hydrogen Hub

PNWH2 became one of the first U.S. Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs to reach Phase 1 designation with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) recent award status. PNWH2 will receive up to $27.5 million of a potential $1 billion in future federal funding. Phase 1 includes initial planning, permitting, and analysis work to ensure the Hub concept’s technological and financial viability.

The PNWH2 Hub will contain eight nodes across Washington, Oregon, and Montana, relying on technology and readily available renewable energy to decarbonize hard-to-abate industries: public transit, agricultural products, medium- to heavy-duty transport, and electric power.

“Today marks an important step for the PNWH2 and is the culmination of many months of discussions, planning, and negotiations across our partners, stakeholders, and community members,” said Chris Green, President of PNWH2. “We are excited to embark on Phase 1 and lead the way in building a new clean-energy commodity in the United States that will benefit generations of families throughout the region.”

Washington State University’s Consortium for Hydrogen and Renewably Generated E-Fuels will oversee the Community Benefits Plan for the PNWH2 Hub, while project management is led by AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear.

Nodes within the PNWH2; Image Credits: S&P Global

At Turbo Expo 2024 in London, experts and insiders discussed a clean-energy future aided by lower-carbon fuels and fuel-flexible advancements, including decarbonization with hydrogen. Robert Schrecengost, Division Director of H2 with Carbon Management at the DOE, offered insight on hydrogen hub and the difficulty of transportation.

“Hydrogen hubs should start many of these in motion, but the Gulf region in the United States has the most hydrogen pipelines installed,” said Schrecengost. “Repurposing natural gas pipelines is being discussed in various locations but going to 100% hydrogen will still be a hurdle. A typical F-class gas turbine needs roughly 20K kg per hour of hydrogen. Pipelines or massive production and storage on-site will be necessary.”

On June 12, 2024, the DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) finalized its agreement for the Design Phase of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program Demand-Side Initiative with the EFI Foundation and the Hydrogen Demand Initiative (H2DI) Consortium. OCED and H2DI will work together to design demand-pull mechanisms to de-risk projects in the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs.

At the panel, the DOE gave an overview of its Clean Energy and Strategy, Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program, carbon capture and storage cycles, and pending funding announcements. The DOE’s goal is to: “build regional clean H2Hubs across the country to create networks of clean hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure to accelerate use of clean hydrogen.”

The Hub awards are still in negotiation between the entities and the DOE, but in October 2023, the DOE announced seven projects selected for award negotiations: Pacific Northwest, California, Heartland, Gulf Coast, Midwest, Appalachian, and Mid-Atlantic.

Chris Green, who leads the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub, presented in Spokane, WA at the Renewable Hydrogen Alliance Hydrogen event. There, he shared eight potential project locations and said that engagement with local communities, Tribal leaders, and other stakeholders has begun.