Funding selections for hydrogen projects announced under Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

The selected projects fall into six topic areas, which directly support the national clean hydrogen strategy — as laid out in the US 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 Electrolyser Manufacturing

Number of projects: 8

Award amount: US$316 million

Selected projects will conduct research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RD&D) to enable greater economies of scale through electrolyser 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: Electrolyser Component and Supply Chain Development

Number of projects: 10

Award amount: US$81 million

Selected projects will support the US supply chain manufacturing and development needs of key electrolyser components, including catalysts, membranes, and porous transport layers.

Topic 3: Advanced Technology and Component Development

Number of projects: 18

Award amount: US$72 million

Selected projects will demonstrate novel materials, components, and designs for electrolysers 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: US$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: US$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: US$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 electrolyser and fuel cell systems and components, securing long-term supply chain security, and environmental sustainability.

This announcement represents the first phase of implementation of two provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which authorises US$1 billion for RDD&D activities to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen produced via electrolysis and US$500 million for RD&D of improved processes and technologies for manufacturing and recycling clean hydrogen systems and materials. These projects will directly produce more than 1500 new jobs, along with thousands of additional jobs indirectly generated through regional economic activity. Additionally, these projects will provide support to 32 disadvantaged communities.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/15032024/funding-selections-for-hydrogen-projects-announced-under-bipartisan-infrastructure-law/