The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) have signed a landmark US$12.6bn agreement to build a clean, renewable Hydrogen Hub in California. The ARCHES project aims to develop more than 10 renewable hydrogen production sites to help cut CO2 emissions from California's public transportation, heavy duty trucking, and port operations by up to 2 Mt/year. It will also help the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Northern California Power Agency transition key power plants to 100% renewable hydrogen.
The project, the first of seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) to officially sign their agreement with the DOE, will receive US$1.2bn from the DOE provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and US$11.4bn in public and private funds, to build and expand a network of clean, renewable hydrogen production sites across California.
In October 2023, the US administration announced a US$7bn scheme to launch seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) across the United States, in order to accelerate the development of low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen. The seven projects are expected to have a cumulated clean hydrogen production capacity of 3 Mt/year, covering nearly 1/3 of the country's 2030 production target and reducing CO2 emissions from hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The projects will be developed in the Appalachian region (Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania), in California (Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES)), in Texas (HyVelocity H2Hub on the Gulf Coast), in the "Heartland" region (Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota), in the Mid-Atlantic region (Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2), in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey), in the Midwest (Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2) in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan), and in the Pacific Northwest region (PNW H2, in Washington, Oregon, and Montana).