Hydrogen Hub Explorer

Under the US Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress allocated $8 billion for the creation of multiple hubs, dubbed “H2Hubs,” to support clean hydrogen in the United States. The US Department of Energy (DOE) defines an H2Hub as a “network of clean hydrogen producers, potential clean hydrogen consumers, and connective infrastructure located in close proximity.” The development of H2Hubs across the United States is intended to be the first step toward the creation of a national network of clean hydrogen producers and customers that could facilitate the emergence of a clean hydrogen economy.

In September 2022, DOE released a funding opportunity announcement for the program. 6–10 clean hydrogen hubs across the country will ultimately receive funding from the program. Concept notes were due from proposers November 7, 2022 and, after an encourage/discourage judgment by DOE, completed applications for the project must be submitted by April 2023. These recent developments have spurred both the public and private sector to convene regional stakeholders and work toward applications for Phase I funding. This mapping tool tracks the H2Hub projects that have publicly expressed their intent to pursue federal funding. As of October 2023, the tool shows the seven regional clean hydrogen hubs that have received funding from DOE.

This map is intended to be a living document and to evolve as the H2Hubs displayed in this map refine and finalize the details of their proposals, and as DOE makes decisions. Proposal details include the geographic reach of their hubs, production methods, end uses, and project partners. As new details become publicly available, existing information will be updated and new information will be added to our tool.

DOE’s encourage/discourage notification announcement in December 2022 included an FAQ with a summary of submissions. The FAQ revealed that 79 concept papers were submitted, with 33 encouraged and 46 discouraged. Following the encourage/discourage notification, hub groups have also begun the process of consolidating, and our Hydrogen Hub Explorer has tracked these developments. Additionally, in August, RBN Energy published the full list of the 33 encouraged applications, which we have incorporated into our tool. In the three cases below, the hub groups that consolidated were all encouraged. This means that the number of encouraged hubs has been reduced slightly.

• In Texas, the Port of Corpus Christi Horizons Clean Hydrogen Hub submitted a single joint application with the Trans Permian Hydrogen Hub.
• In the Midwest, the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MACHH2) and Indiana-led Midwest Hydrogen Corridor Consortium (MHCC) collaborated on a single joint application.
• In Colorado, the Xcel Energy led Front Range Hydrogen Hub, which was encouraged by DOE, is participating as part of the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub.

In addition to the encouraged hubs that have been included in our tool below, there are three hubs whose locations are uncertain or unknown. We have not included these projects in our tool due to this uncertainty and a lack of publicly available information, but provide a brief summary of each project below:

• Mitsubishi Power Americas is leading the Boardman Renewable H2 Hub
• ExxonMobil is leading the Hydrogen Liftoff Hub
• The NextEra Southeast Hydrogen Network being led by NextEra Energy

As of February 2024, our Hydrogen Hub Explorer tracks all seven selected hydrogen hubs from the 33 DOE encouraged H2Hub projects in the United States (27 displayed on the webtool, 3 with unknown locations listed above, and 3 who have consolidated with other hub groups).

The map shows the geographic location of clean hydrogen hub projects that have been publicly announced. H2Hubs can be local, statewide, or multi-state initiatives. Local hubs are shown as circles on the map. In situations where a proposed state hub and proposed multi-state hub overlap, the statewide hub is represented by a circle on top of the multi-state area. Pipelines are depicted by lines between hubs.

To better understand the map, let's look at Texas, which includes three hub projects that are bidding for DOE funding.

• The Center for Houston’s Future announced the creation of the HyVelocity hydrogen hub. The project is centered in the city of Houston and includes the cooperation of corporate stakeholders across the Gulf Coast in the power, industrial, and transportation sectors, along with national laboratories and local universities. This H2Hub is represented by a circle.
• The Horizons Clean Hydrogen Hub already has detailed plans showing the location of producers of hydrogen, transportation pipelines, and potential end-use areas. Because these details are available, we represent this hub with a collection of circles and lines representing their components.
• A local hub in the Permian Basin is also led by a private energy project developer. We represent this hub with a circle in the Permian Basin.

Now, let's consider the Appalachian region. Appalachia also includes several hub proposals, many of which overlap geographically.

• A multi-state project (ARCH2) in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia is led by the State of West Virginia and several partners including EQT. This hub is depicted as a multi-state area. Due to the state of Kentucky being involved in two multi-state hubs, only “half” of Kentucky is included in the ARCH2 area.
• Pennsylvania also has announced plans for its own statewide hydrogen hub initiative (DNA Hydrogen Hub). To prevent the overlap of the representation of state and multi-state hubs in this region, state hubs in the region are represented by a circle.
• Finally, the Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Hub is led by the University of Toledo and is planning to explore the production of hydrogen from nuclear energy. Because this is a local hub centered in Toledo, Ohio, the hub is represented by a circle.

Users have the option to zoom into Texas, the Pacific Northwest, the Mountain West, and North Dakota to view the details of proposals within those regions.

A dropdown menu allows users to adjust the information displayed on the map. Users can view the feedstock used to produce clean hydrogen, the main end uses of hydrogen, or the type of partnership for a hub. Possible views also include the encourage/discourage status of each hub, when available, after DOE’s December notifications. The presence of a given hub characteristic is shaded green; the absence of a characteristic is shaded red. Areas shaded grey indicate that information about the hub is too sparse to indicate the presence or absence of a given characteristic.

Hovering over proposed hubs on the map will display a tooltip, which includes the name of the hub, a brief overview of the project, and the lead partner or partners in the hub. Users can also click on a hub to reveal a page with more information, including a list of publicly announced partners in the corporate, finance, government, nonprofit, and higher education sectors. Over time, more information, such as concept papers, encouragement or discouragement updates from DOE, and financial details may be announced. When such details become available, we will update these pages accordingly.