Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) responded to Concept Papers submitted for the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) program. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the H2Hubs will be a central driver in helping communities across the country benefit from clean energy investments, good-paying jobs, and improved energy security—all while supporting President Biden’s goal of a net-zero carbon economy by 2050. 

In September 2022, DOE opened a $7 billion funding opportunity to create clean hydrogen hubs across the country and form a critical arm of America’s future clean energy economy. For the first stage of this process, OCED required Concept Paper submittals and received 79 submissions. In these Concept Papers, applicants requested nearly $60 billion in federal funding—roughly eight to nine times the size of DOE’s $6-7 billion solicitation. Proposed projects by the applicants included in aggregate, more than $150 billion of their own capital alongside the DOE’s federal investment. The response to the Concept Papers was tremendous and covered all technological solutions as well as every region of the country.  

OCED notified those who submitted Concept Papers that they were either encouraged or discouraged from submitting a Full Application. This followed an assessment of each Concept Paper based on evaluation criteria that included qualifications, experience, and capabilities; expected contributions toward a national hydrogen network; plans to develop production, end-use, and connective facilities; and the community benefits plan component. This process allows DOE to provide feedback to potential applicants to ensure they are producing the best applications possible and to better understand the types of final applications it will receive. 

While OCED provided written feedback to the Concept Papers, OCED is also planning to host a webinar on January 12, 2023 for participants to hear directly from the office. Specific details on the webinar will be provided directly to applicants and will be posted to this webpage. While the Department will not publicly share the Concept Papers or feedback, applicants are free to publicly share their notice if they so choose. These encourage/discourage notifications do not preclude any entity that submitted a Concept Paper from submitting a Full Application, nor does it preclude further coordination among potential applicants. The final application deadline is April 7, 2023, and DOE looks forward to receiving Full Applications and selecting awardees during the summer of 2023. 

For more information regarding the H2Hubs Concept Paper notifications, please visit OCED’s H2Hubs Notifications and FAQs webpage here.