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California Formally Announces Intention to Create a Renewable Hydrogen Hub

By May 22, 2022 3   min read  (566 words)

May 22, 2022 |

Fuel Cells Works, California Formally Announces Intention to Create a Renewable Hydrogen Hub

Sacramento, CA – Building from a foundation of nation-leading policies and new hydrogen system market development, Governor Newsom’s administration is announcing California’s intention to leverage federal investment from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to establish an environmentally and economically sustainable and expanding renewable hydrogen hub.

Administration officials, led by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), will continue working with public and private stakeholders, including California’s legislature and leading municipalities such as Los Angeles, to submit one state co-funded application.

In the May Revise budget, Governor Newsom proposed direct investment in green hydrogen production, in addition to numerous pots of funding that can be leveraged to accelerate hydrogen market development, including zero-emission vehicle market acceleration, industrial decarbonization, and long duration energy storage. Additionally, the administration is committed to collaborating with neighboring states and initiatives to create a resilient supply and delivery chain, helping to facilitate success and learnings across multiple markets.

“California has the market experience, workforce talent, public and private investment base, and renewable resources to partner with the federal government to create an economically resilient, expanding hydrogen hub that helps accelerate national success,” said Dee Dee Myers, Director of GO-Biz and Senior Economic Advisor to Governor Newsom. “GO-Biz is leaning in on our deep experience with the hydrogen industry and working with multiple stakeholders to organize a statewide application aimed at one fundamental concept: getting to scale in California and beyond.”

“Our recently published draft Scoping Plan Update makes it clear that renewable hydrogen has an important role to play in reaching our economy wide climate and air quality targets,” said California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph. “We are committed to collaborating with all stakeholders to continually improve our robust policy framework to enable rapid renewable hydrogen market development.”

“The need for renewable hydrogen is clear, especially as we develop systems to store and use renewable electricity,” California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild stated. “We need federal, state, and private investment to accelerate market development to ensure we meet our carbon neutrality goals—and we are excited to work with stakeholders to build a world class hydrogen hub and believe that federal investments in green hydrogen in California will benefit the state and the nation.”

“The California Public Utilities Commission is committed to working with stakeholders to help define the role of investor-owned utilities in the hydrogen market ecosystem,” said Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen. “Renewable hydrogen can play a variety of important roles in a decarbonized economy.”

“From public transit to long-haul trucking, low-cost, renewable hydrogen is one of the key components in our efforts to rapidly reduce pollution from the transportation sector,” said California State Transportation Agency Secretary Toks Omishakin. “Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles of all types – including cars, heavy-duty trucks, buses, rail and watercraft – are an ideal complement to battery-powered vehicles as part of a diversified and sustainable transportation system. The hydrogen hub will help lower costs and accelerate California’s transition to a zero-emission future.”

A federally co-funded hydrogen hub in California would accelerate our collective transition to a carbon-neutral economy, creating the scale needed to drive down cost for businesses and consumers alike, all while creating high paying jobs. Near term hub activities will center on deep investments in electrifying port operations, goods movement, transportation, and energy system resilience.

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