Plug Power seeks to scale up production, liquification and storage for fuel cell vehicles in transportation and logistics.
New York-based hydrogen producer Plug Power Inc. recently secured a $1.66 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office, one of the last loans to close before the change in administration.
The company says the money will help finance the construction of up to six projects throughout the United States to produce and liquefy hydrogen at scale using zero- or low-carbon techniques.
Plug Power produces hydrogen through electrolysis, where hydrogen is separated from water with oxygen as a byproduct, using its electrolyzer technology manufactured at its Rochester, N.Y. facility.
Plug Power has its own liquification and storage process using equipment manufactured at its facility in Houston, Texas. The liquefied hydrogen is intended fuel cell vehicles in the materials handling, transportation and industrial sectors.
Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and other corporations use Plug Power’s hydrogen fuel cells across their warehouse and distribution centers.
According to Plug Power, a clean hydrogen production and liquification facility the company is building in Graham, Texas, will be the first to benefit from this new financing. The facility will be powered by an adjacent wind farm, making the hydrogen “green” according to the standard definition that it be produced by renewable energy.
“Finalizing this loan guarantee with the Department of Energy represents a significant step in the expansion of our domestic manufacturing and hydrogen production capabilities, which create many high-quality jobs throughout the U.S.,” said Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh. “In addition to reducing carbon emissions and enhancing the resilience of the U.S. energy grid, we believe the hydrogen economy aligns closely with national security interests, ensuring that the U.S. remains at the forefront of energy technology development and deployment on a global scale.”
The loan guarantee announcement comes in tandem with a recently revised report from the DOE on the state of clean hydrogen commercialization in the U.S. While certain industrial and agricultural sectors segments are poised for “liftoff” (from a commercial clean hydrogen prospective) by 2030, the report said, the complexities of production, storage and distribution for the transportation sector is seen as being further off. The financing for Plug Power may help advance the timetable for that sector.
According to a DOE release announcing the loan, advancing clean hydrogen was a key component of the Biden administration’s goal of building a robust clean energy economy. While the Trump administration seems unlikely to pursue similar projects with such enthusiasm, some industry pundits think clean hydrogen programs could remain vibrant.
Kyle Hayes, partner and co-chair of the hydrogen practice at New York-based law firm Foley & Lardner, recently said incentives for hydrogen development put in place during the Biden administration should survive into the Trump era because of users in the fossil fuel industry that predominately benefit red states.
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