Plug Power Receives $1.66 Billion in DOE Loan Guarantees

Hy Stor Energy announced last week it has submitted a formal application to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub initiative. The company’s Mississippi Clean Hydrogen Hub (MCHH) could break ground this year if awarded federal funding. Topsoe A/S is eyeing a $300 million investment in U.S. electrolyzer manufacturing capacity, with a final investment decision (FID) on the facility expected by the end of this year. NEL ASA recently unveiled plans to build an electrolyzer factory in Michigan, with plans to spend about $400 million initially on a facility that could ultimately produce 4 gigawatts (GW) of alkaline and proton exchange membrane (PEM) units per year. It appears that the NEL facility has not reached FID yet. Topsoe was also in the news recently when ExxonMobil selected its autothermal reforming (ATR) technology for the company’s blue hydrogen project at Baytown. Honeywell was announced as the project’s provider of carbon dioxide capture equipment.

Plug Power’s green H2 expansion in the United States continues, as detailed in the company’s recent quarterly conference call. In Georgia, Plug is now producing gaseous hydrogen from its new facility in Kingsland. Given this news, we have moved the facility from “planned” to “existing” in our project list. That said, it will be a few more weeks until the plant completes commissioning and begins producing liquid hydrogen. According to Plug, the Georgia plant will produce liquid hydrogen by the second quarter, though full commissioning takes three to six months. That timeline would suggest the 15,000 kilogram per day (kg/day) plant will be fully operational by the second half of 2023.