USA funds 20 H2 projects for refuelling and safety infrastructure
The hydrogen projects selected span five areas: components for refuelling heavy-duty vehicles, standardized refuelling stations, refuelling port equipment, enabling permitting and safety for hydrogen deployment and equitable hydrogen technology community engagement. These will be managed by the DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO).
The DOE has said that the projects should support and reinforce the long-term viability of the department’s Regional Clan Hydrogen Hubs and other commercial-scale hydrogen installations. This follows on from the USA National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap. In March 2024, the government revealed its National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy and shortly afterwards, funds for 52 hydrogen projects.
In releasing information about the latest 20 hydrogen projects funded, the US government notes the importance of green hydrogen for heavy-duty transportation as a hard-to-decarbonize sector as well as its potential for long-term energy storage to support the expansion of renewable energy.
In August 2024, the US federal government announced $500 million in funding for charging and refuelling infrastructure across the USA. Here, the largest project in California was awarded $102 million for the ‘West Coast Truck Charging and Fueling Corridor Project’ to deploy charging and hydrogen fueling stations for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles along 2,500 miles of key freight corridors in California, Oregon, and Washington.
In this latest round of infrastructure funding for hydrogen projects just announced, of the 20 projects in five categories, $40 million was the largest funding to the area of standardizing hydrogen fuel cell refuelling stations. The four projects selected in this area are to develop and demonstrate a low-cost, standardized, and replicable advanced “hydrogen fueling station of the future” that can meet the needs of commercial-scale MD/HD truck refuelling.
The DOE also noted in their announcement of the 20 funded projects that seven of the selected projects focus on the permitting and safety of hydrogen infrastructure.
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