Funding Selections for Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis, Manufacturing, and Recycling Activities under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Description

On March 13, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $750 million in funding for 52 projects across 24 states to dramatically reduce the cost of clean hydrogen and reinforce American leadership in the growing hydrogen industry. These projects will advance electrolysis technologies and improve manufacturing and recycling capabilities for clean hydrogen systems and components.

This announcement represents the first phase of implementation of two provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which authorizes $1 billion for research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) activities to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen produced via electrolysis and $500 million for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of improved processes and technologies for manufacturing and recycling clean hydrogen systems and materials. These projects will directly produce more than 1,500 new jobs, along with thousands of additional jobs indirectly generated through regional economic activity.

Together with the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs), tax incentives in the President’s historic Inflation Reduction Act, and ongoing research, development, and demonstration in the DOE Hydrogen Program, these investments will help DOE achieve its ambitious Hydrogen Shot goal of reducing the cost of producing clean hydrogen to $1 per kilogram. These projects will also support the long-term viability of the H2Hubs and other emerging commercial-scale deployments by helping to solve the underlying technical barriers to cost reduction that can’t be overcome by scale alone.

Location of Selections

U.S. map showing approximate location of selected projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis, Manufacturing, and Recycling FOA

Dots on the map reflect approximate (not exact) locations. The information in the map is provided below in the searchable table of funding selections.

Topic Areas

Award and cost share amounts are subject to change pending negotiations.

The selected projects fall into six topic areas, which directly support the national clean hydrogen strategy—as laid out in the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap—which includes an emphasis on cost reduction, manufacturing, supply chains, and domestic jobs.

Topic 1: Low-Cost, High-Throughput Electrolyzer Manufacturing
Number of projects: 8
Award amount: $316 million
Selected projects will conduct RD&D to enable greater economies of scale through electrolyzer manufacturing innovations, including automated manufacturing processes; design for processability and scale-up; advanced quality control methods; reduced critical mineral loadings; and design for end-of-life recovery and recyclability.

Topic 2: Electrolyzer Component and Supply Chain Development
Number of projects: 10
Award amount: $81 million
Selected projects will support the U.S. supply chain manufacturing and development needs of key electrolyzer components, including catalysts, membranes, and porous transport layers.

Topic 3: Advanced Technology and Component Development
Number of projects: 18
Award amount: $72 million
Selected projects will demonstrate novel materials, components, and designs for electrolyzers that meet performance, lifetime, and cost metrics to enable cost reduction and mitigate supply chain risks.

Topic 4: Advanced Manufacturing of Fuel Cell Assemblies and Stacks
Number of projects: 5
Award amount: $150 million
Selected projects will support high-throughput manufacturing of low-cost fuel cells and address key scale-up challenges to achieve economies of scale.

Topic 5: Fuel Cell Supply Chain Development
Number of projects: 10
Award amount: $82 million
Selected projects will conduct R&D to address critical deficiencies in the domestic supply chain for fuel cell materials and components and develop advanced technologies that reduce or eliminate the need for “forever chemicals.”

Topic 6: Recovery and Recycling Consortium
Number of projects: 1
Award amount: $50 million
This funding establishes a consortium of industry, academia, and national labs to develop innovative and practical approaches to enable the recovery, recycling, and reuse of clean-hydrogen materials and components. The consortium will establish a blueprint across the industry for recycling electrolyzer and fuel cell systems and components, securing long-term supply chain security, and environmental sustainability.