DOE Releases Updated Report on Pathways to Commercial Liftoff for Clean Hydrogen

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a new version of Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Clean Hydrogen, which updates the first clean hydrogen liftoff report released in March 2023. This new report shows that the U.S. clean hydrogen market continues to promise rapid growth, accelerated by historic commitments like the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs; the Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (45V); and DOE’s ongoing programs for research, development, demonstration, and deployment of clean hydrogen technologies.

The report also examines how the commercial liftoff of clean hydrogen will be affected by the following four key updates since the first report:

• The United States is on track to reach 7 to 9 million metric tons per annum in operational clean-hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
• Developers face higher production cost estimates due to higher electricity prices, installation costs, and cost of capital.
• Industrial sectors continue to pull near-term demand, although an increasing number of projects will service export markets.
• Additional promising clean hydrogen production technologies, like methane pyrolysis and drilling for geologic hydrogen, continue to mature.

The 2024 update to Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Clean Hydrogen was developed as a collaborative effort between DOE and the private sector, including entrepreneurs, builders, operators, customers, and investors. Within the DOE, leading organizations included the DOE Loan Programs Office, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, with advisory input and support from the Office of Technology Transitions, the Office of Policy, the Office of Energy Justice and Equity, Argonne National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Read more about this new report.