Biden administration to send $7 billion for clean hydrogen hubs in 16 states; Northwestern Clinton County’s KeyState Energy project gets financial boost

By Jacob Fischler – Capital-Star and staff reports

WASHINGTON, DC – The Biden administration is directing $7 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law to build seven regional hydrogen power hubs in 16 states, the White House announced Friday. Among the beneficiaries is the KeyState Energy project on a portion of the former Winner tract in West Keating Township in northwestern Clinton County.

The projects, each of which is a cluster of assets that produce and process hydrogen fuel as an alternative to fossil fuels, will benefit the climate, the economy and U.S. energy security, administration officials told reporters.

The projects include the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, which will power the region’s manufacturing sector, according to an administration hi official. The project can take advantage of bountiful natural gas in the area, while permanently and safely storing the resulting carbon emissions, the release said.

Perry Babb, president of KeyState Energy, heralded the Friday announcement, calling it a “big win for northcentral Pennsylvania” and an endorsement of his project proposed for West Keating Township.
He shared some preliminary thoughts with the record-online:

In 2022, KeyState was honored to have been selected to be a Principal Project of ARCH2 and has been an important part of the ARCH2’s Hydrogen Hub effort from the early days.

With today’s announcement, KeyState will receive substantial grant funding over the coming years to undergird the much larger private sector investment required to develop KeyState’s $1.7 billion Clean Hydrogen and Carbon Storage Complex in North Central Pennsylvania.

KeyState’s breakthrough integration of onsite natural gas extraction, onsite reforming of methane into its parts, hydrogen and CO2, onsite capture and sequestration of this CO2, with all run on zero carbon power, results in large scale production of hydrogen from natural gas at a carbon intensity score meeting the most stringent requirements for Qualified Clean Hydrogen. A vital key to this innovation is the virtual elimination of fugitive methane and CO2 emissions associated with natural gas extraction, processing, and transport.

KeyState will demonstrate that historic emissions reduction and historic job creation can happen together.

With Pennsylvania’s abundant low-cost natural gas, substantial geological storage potential, and energy innovation history, Pennsylvania and Appalachia will lead as a global hydrogen super-power over the next 30 years.

Babb said additional information will be released in the near future. Plans call for relocating the KeyStates’ office from Bellefonte to Penn State’s Innovation Park.

Hydrogen fuel is an important part of the administration’s goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the White House said.

Clean hydrogen is especially important for the most difficult sectors to decarbonize, including heavy-duty transportation and chemical, steel, and cement manufacturing, according to the release.

The hubs are expected to reduce carbon emissions by 25 million metric tons each year, the equivalent of 5.5 million gas-powered cars, the White House said. The projects will contribute about one-third of the administration’s clean hydrogen goal.

The administration projects the seven hubs will create tens of thousands of jobs and would prompt more than $40 billion in private investment, an administration official said Thursday.

The Friday announcement includes a second hub project for Pennsylvania: Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. This hub will use repurposed oil infrastructure, the release said.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said Friday that the Mid-Atlantic hub would receive up to $750 million and the Appalachian Regional hub would receive up to $925 million.

“The Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub is a game changer for Southeastern Pennsylvania,” Casey said in a statement. “This hub will bring good union jobs, economic growth, and clean energy innovation to the region. The infrastructure law is helping Pennsylvania take control of its future and become the energy powerhouse we know we can be.” Casey noted that he supported the application for the hub— which he referred to as MACH2 — and pushed for DOE to award hydrogen hub designation to the region.

The Appalachian Regional hub, or ARCH2, “is an incredible regional opportunity to put Appalachia at the forefront of the 21st century economy,” Casey added. “Southwestern Pennsylvania has a long, proud history of building and powering our Nation, and a hydrogen hub will bring jobs, economic growth, and clean energy innovation to the Appalachian Basin.

Congress approved the funding as part of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law early in President Joe Biden’s term in 2021.

The projects will have assets in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, Minnesota, South Dakota, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Montana, California, Delaware, Texas, North Dakota and Illinois. A hub based in Houston could “perhaps” involve Louisiana, an administration official said.