Who were the big winners from US government's giant $750m hydrogen funding call?

Much of the electrolyser funding has gone towards the set-up of gigawatt-scale factories, with the government estimating that its funding will support 10GW of annual manufacturing capacity.

Plug Power was awarded $45.7m to scale up its electrolyser manufacturing capacity at its up-to-2.5GW site in Rochester, New York, as well as $30m for fuel cell manufacturing.

The firm is also set to receive $3.2m to research new proton exchange membranes (PEM) that do not use perfluorinated materials — a so-called “forever chemical” that is ubiquitous in current PEM electrolysers — and is also involved in six other newly government-funded projects as a partner.

Meanwhile, Nel has been allocated $50m from the federal government for a planned 4GW factory in Michigan, topped up by $25m in additional funding from the state government beyond the $50m it had already promised.

Nel has also been awarded $4.9m to fund research and development into alkaline exchange membranes, also known as anion exchange membranes (AEMs) at Wallingford.

Elsewhere, Bill Gates-backed start-up Electric Hydrogen was awarded $46.3m for new PEM electrolyser manufacturing processes at its new 1.2GW factory in Devens, Massachusetts, which is expected to start producing equipment this spring.

Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Nucera meanwhile has been allocated $50m for a mysterious “ScalumGW” project in Texas.

Meanwhile, $17.9m went to Cummins for a project in Minnesota for subcomponent assembly for proton exchange membrane (PEM) stacks that would enable gigawatt-scale production at its existing plant in Minnesota.

Another $36.3m went to Utah-based solid-oxide electrolyser manufacturer OxEon Energy to automate its manufacturing; $39.6m to AEM electrolyser start-up Verdagy; and $30m to NexTech Materials for scaleup and demonstration of high-temperature electrolysis technology in Ohio.

Five fuel cell manufacturers were also promised $30m each for projects which the DOE predicts will scale up manufacturing capacity to 14GW a year: aforementioned Plug Power, Ballard Power Systems for a project in Texas, General Motors for a project in Michigan, Bosch for a project in South Carolina, and Nuvera Fuel Cells for a project in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, $81m was awarded to ten projects to support the supply chain for electrolyser components, such as catalysts and membranes, and $82m to ten projects supporting the supply chain for fuel cells. Another $72m went toward 18 projects researching novel materials, components and designs for electrolysers.

A single electrolyser and fuel cell recycling research project led by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, with industrial partners including General Motors, Plug Power, Nel, and Johnson Matthey, received $50m.

The $750m in federal funding is expected to be matched by private investment, bringing the total spend on the US hydrogen sector to $1.6bn.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is propelling an American-led clean hydrogen economy that is delivering good-paying, high-quality jobs and accelerating a manufacturing renaissance in communities across America,” said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

“The projects announced today — funded by the President’s Investing in America agenda — will supercharge our progress and ensure our leadership in clean hydrogen will be felt across the nation for generations to come.”