US Department of Energy encourages Southeast Hydrogen Hub to submit full application for federal funding.
The Southeast Hydrogen Hub coalition announced it is among the limited number of organizations encouraged by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to submit a full application in response to the $8 billion in funding for regional clean hydrogen hubs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The coalition, which includes major utility companies Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, Southern Company and the Tennessee Valley Authority, as well as Battelle, is working to organize the potential hub and secure funding.
After submitting an initial concept paper in November, the coalition received the DOE notification of encouragement on December 27, 2022. Of the 79 concept papers the DOE received, 33 were encouraged to advance to the application stage. Formal proposals are due to the DOE in April 2023, with decisions expected in the fall.
A hydrogen hub in the Southeastern U.S. is expected to bring robust economic development benefits and jobs to the region. Hydrogen is attractive as an energy resource because it has immediate potential to accelerate decarbonization in the Southeast and across all sectors of the U.S. economy – including transportation, which generates the largest share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the country.
The coalition’s concept paper described how the Southeast Hydrogen Hub will build on existing infrastructure utilizing technologies to advance the production, storage, transport and delivery of hydrogen to transition the energy economy toward a decarbonized future.
The coalition’s vision is to develop scalable, integrated projects at key locations across the entire Southeast in support of carbon-reduction goals and to encourage the broad-based development of a regional energy ecosystem that will allow members to deploy hydrogen as a decarbonization solution for customers and communities.
Other members of the Southeast Hydrogen Hub coalition will come from a growing list of industries in the region and the states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, as well as other Southeastern states that are interested in exploring and implementing hydrogen as an energy source. The coalition expects its membership to grow as news of the opportunity spreads and as interest in hydrogen intensifies.
About Dominion Energy
About 7 million customers in 15 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to safely providing reliable, affordable and sustainable energy and to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.
About Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business and at least a 50% carbon reduction from electric generation by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The 2050 net-zero goals also include Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 emissions. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2022 “World’s Most Admired…