The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) announced the selection of a consortium to help accelerate commercial liftoff of the clean H₂ economy and support the launch of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs), funded through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda. The consortium—which consists of the EFI Foundation (EFIF), a leader in clean H₂ economy development, in partnership with the commodity markets information experts S&P Global (S&P) and the financial exchange operator Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)—will design and implement demand-side support mechanisms for unlocking the market potential of the H2Hubs.

Over the next six to nine months, DOE will work with the consortium and the H2Hubs to design robust demand-side support measures that will facilitate purchases of clean H₂ produced by H2Hub-affiliated projects to reduce climate pollution, create good jobs, support clean air and advance U.S. competitiveness in various end use sectors, including energy-intensive industry and heavy-duty transportation. The team will also develop an operational plan for how to administer these mechanisms once finalized.­­­

Developing a H₂ demand-side initiative is critical to enhancing the early commercial viability of the H2Hubs, as demand formation for new energy sources often lags the creation of new reliable supply. Demand-side support and other “demand pull” measures bridge the gap between producers, who need medium- to long-term offtake certainty for a significant portion of their projected output to secure financing to build a project, and buyers, who often prefer to buy on a short-term basis for energy inputs that are beginning to be produced at scale, like clean H₂. “Demand pull” measures have been a valuable tool in the scale-up of renewable energy technologies like wind and solar.

EFIF, S&P and ICE will leverage their deep expertise in clean H₂, project finance and commercial contracting to support design of measures to de-risk clean H₂ projects and increase demand certainty. The consortium will help craft demand-side support agreements for clean H₂ projects affiliated with the H2Hubs to unlock final investment decisions and catalyze the formation of a mature clean H₂ market. Ultimately, the demand-side initiative will support the growth and sustainability of the H2Hubs program by providing improved offtake certainty to help H₂ producers attract private sector investment and end-use buyers. It will also lay the foundation for broader private sector scale-up and use of the clean H₂ market by providing price transparency and standardized contracts for the projects it supports.