Dive Brief:
Plug Power has received an up to $1.66 billion conditional loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, which the company will use to finance the development and construction of up to six hydrogen production facilities.
The loan will support the creation of a commercial-scale clean hydrogen fueling network in several regions of the country, according to the DOE.
The DOE has made several similar awards in the recent past. Taken with Tuesday’s announcement, the loans signal the DOE’s strong interest in clean hydrogen, according to Frank Wolak, president and CEO of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association.
Dive Insight:
Clean hydrogen may be about to go mainstream, Wolak said following Tuesday’s announcement.
The $1.66 billion award to Plug Power is just the latest — albeit also the largest — award for hydrogen production by the DOE, Wolak said. Another hydrogen manufacturer, Monolith, has tied down a $1.04 commitment from the DOE to finance the construction of a facility that will use renewable energy to separate natural gas into its elemental components, hydrogen and carbon, for use in fertilizer, tires and other products. The DOE has also issued a $504.4 million loan guarantee to finance the Aces Delta project, which plans to use renewable energy via alkaline electrolysis to produce hydrogen, which will be stored on-site in salt caverns for use by the Intermountain Power Agency’s hydrogen-capable combined cycle natural gas power plant.
“These commitments are an indication of the depth of the investment potential in the U.S. and the interest of the [Loan Programs Office] to support the U.S. hydrogen industry and the goals of the [Biden] Administration to advance a broad range of clean hydrogen,” Wolak said in a statement.
Plug Power primarily plans to sell the hydrogen from its six-plant expansion to its own customers in the material handling, transportation and industrial sectors, according to the company. The company primarily sells hydrogen-fueled commercial vehicles such as forklifts, which it services via its network of 250 hydrogen fueling stations. Existing customers include Amazon, Walmart and Home Depot, which use fuel cell vehicles in their warehouse and distribution centers.
While Plug’s term sheet with the DOE does not specify which projects will be financed, Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh said the company and the DOE are currently focused on financing “Project Limestone,” a 45-ton liquid hydrogen generation plant slated for construction in Graham, Texas.
Plug Power already owns and operates a 25-tons-per-day hydrogen production facility in Woodbine, Georgia, which according to the DOE represents the largest proton exchange membrane electrolyzer system in the United States.
Plug Power also manufactures its own electrolyzers at a factory in Rochester, New York, and owns hydrogen liquefaction and storage systems engineered at its own facility in Houston, according to the company.
The DOE estimates that each of the six new hydrogen plants could create 50 full-time jobs. The company’s processes, according to the DOE, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 84% relative to conventional hydrogen production.
