Hydrogen is taking on a broader strategic role in the global energy system, with energy security and industrial growth increasingly joining decarbonization as drivers of investment, according to the Hydrogen Council’s recently published report, Global Hydrogen Compass 2026.
Construction is underway at Blue Point One (#32 in map below), a low-carbon ammonia plant in Modeste, LA, billed by the joint venture’s partners — CF Industries (40%), JERA (35%) and Mitsui (25%) — as the world’s biggest of its kind. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1.4 million MT and is expected to begin production in 2029.
Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs will spend $1 billion to modernize the blast furnace at its Middletown, OH, facility, a total that includes a $500 million Department of Energy (DOE) grant originally intended to support a hydrogen-focused decarbonization project, the company said August 21. The revised project will reline and upgrade the blast furnace while installing a cogeneration plant for the Middletown site.
Air Liquide will invest more than $160 million to build, own and operate a new large-scale production facility to supply ultra-high-purity gases, including hydrogen, to a new semiconductor fabrication plant in Arizona.
Global hydrogen demand grew by almost 3% in 2025 to surpass 100 million metric tons (MT), concentrated in traditional industrial uses and refining, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its recently published Global Hydrogen Review 2026.
Twelve’s AirPlant One, which it bills as the first commercial-scale facility in the U.S. to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), has begun operations in Moses Lake, WA, the company said June 10. Referred to by Twelve as E-Jet fuel, it is an alternative to traditional jet fuel made from carbon dioxide (CO2), renewable electricity and water.
Plug Power said June 2 it has closed on the sale of a federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for ~$39.2 million associated with its hydrogen liquefaction facility in St. Gabriel, LA, (operated through Hidrogenii, its joint venture with Olin Corp. The St. Gabriel facility was commissioned in April 2025 and can liquefy up to 15 tons of hydrogen per day.
Exploits Valley Renewable Energy Corporation (EVREC) said May 18 that it filed the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its project in Central Newfoundland. The project would reuse brownfield lands, repurpose the Port of Botwood (the closest deepwater port in North America to Europe) and harness the region’s wind resources to produce green hydrogen and ammonia.
Federal funding for five of the seven regional hydrogen hubs and other energy-related projects that had been in line for termination could instead be preserved following a review by the Trump administration, according to Bloomberg, which cited a 39-page list of about 2,000 projects the Department of Energy said it plans to “retain or modify.”
Michigan will study whether the state’s naturally occurring hydrogen deposits — also referred to as white hydrogen — have the potential to help some of the most pollution-heavy sectors of its economy, including manufacturing, heavy-duty transportation and maritime shipping, according to an executive order signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer on January 15.
