The Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen coalition (GLCH) today announced it has received encouragement from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to proceed with the development and submittal of their full hydrogen hub application.
The coalition, which is led by Linde (NYSE: LIN; FWB: LIN), Energy Harbor, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF), GE Aerospace and The University of Toledo, along with the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council (GMIC), was among 79 organizations submitting concept papers to the DOE for development consideration. The proposal by GLCH was selected as one of 33 projects encouraged to proceed to the full application process.
GLCH has proposed to develop low-carbon hydrogen via electrolysis based in Oak Harbor, Ohio, at Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station. The facility proposes to distribute the hydrogen across the Great Lakes region by pipeline and road transportation.
The GLCH project is built on the foundation of ongoing, preliminary work supported by the DOE and the Idaho National Laboratory. The proposed approach will supplement hydrogen from nuclear power, as needed, with clean hydrogen produced through solar energy projects under development in the region.
The coalition is actively working with the states of Ohio and Michigan, technology suppliers, hydrogen consumers, state and regional academic institutions, national laboratories and non-profit organizations to develop a clean energy hydrogen hub to serve Ohio, Michigan and portions of Pennsylvania and Indiana.
Total project investment is expected to exceed $2 billion, with 50% requested from federal infrastructure funding managed by the DOE’s regional clean hydrogen hub initiative.
Initially, this proposal addresses decarbonization in the steel, aviation and glass industries while supporting the transition to hydrogen transit in buses and other vehicles.
Through the full scope of the application, GLCH intends to grow to serve additional companies operating in the Great Lakes region, interested in decarbonizing their products, manufacturing facilities, power generation plants and mobility networks with low-carbon hydrogen.
GLCH intends that investments in the project benefit the communities involved and advance environmental justice, diversity, equity and inclusion as well as create opportunity for high value jobs.
