Full Title: It’s Critical to Prioritize Commercial and Market Readiness for H2Hubs
Author(s): Robin Gaster
Publisher(s): Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Publication Date: April 17, 2023
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The $8 billion hydrogen hubs program (H2Hubs) being deployed by the Department of Energy (DOE) is the most extensive demonstration program undertaken in energy in the United States. Designed to support the creation of sustainable hydrogen-based regional ecosystems, it faces formidable challenges, and DOE will need to adjust standard management practices to meet them.
Most importantly, the program targets important markets that don’t yet exist, in many cases using technologies that have not been tested, missing critical components of the energy transportation infrastructure and facing competition from established and plentiful sources of cheap hydrogen (that emit substantial amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG)). The H2Hubs will likely be at a substantial cost disadvantage, which is why DOE will help fund the cost of building hydrogen production facilities (by reducing capital expenditures for operators) and may also provide operating support once they are made. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides substantial subsidies for clean hydrogen, while the 45Q program offers additional support for carbon capture projects.
These challenges are formidable, and DOE needs to do better completing major projects on time and on budget. So getting management objectives, structures, and resources right is critically important. To help overcome these challenges, we offer some suggestions to DOE that would assist in successfully implementing H2Hubs.