More than 300 stakeholders were on hand Monday for the Clean Hydrogen for the Mid-Atlantic Conference at the Chase Center on the Riverfront.
The state’s Congressional Delegation and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Secretary David Turk hosted the event.
In October, the US Department of Energy chose the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen (MACH2) proposal, a public-private partnership between Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey, as one of seven regional clean hydrogen hubs. This designation came with as much as a $750 million federal grant made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Topics covered during the half-day event included how the hub would positively impact regional economies, public health, and the environment. Guests and panelists throughout the event included Bloom Energy’s Rick Buettel, Chesapeake Utilities’ Shane Breakie, First State Hydrogen’s Andrew Cottone, PBF Energy’s Matt Lucey, DART’s Michael McNeal, University of Delaware Center for Clean Hydrogen’s Yushan Yan, State Senator Stephanie Hansen, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania’s Pamela Keye, State Representative Larry Lambert, Steamfitters Local 420’s Jim Snell, and Delaware Workforce Development Board’s Joanna Staib.
MACH2 hopes to use the region’s expertise in using hydrogen to provide cleaner power to refineries and industrial plants. Another possibility is producing hydrogen from excess electricity from nuclear plants.
MACH2 also aims to advance the Biden Administration’s goal of a 100% clean electrical grid by 2035, net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and create an estimated 20,000 energy jobs, including union jobs.
Hydrogen power has its critics who question its value in moving toward a carbon-free economy.
MACH2 hopes to produce, distribute, and use clean hydrogen to power our vehicles, airplanes, industries, and other equipment.
“Hydrogen hubs present a win-win-win for our climate, our communities and union workforce, and for the economy,” said Turk. “Clean hydrogen is the Swiss Army Knife of clean energy technologies. It can decarbonize some of our hardest-to-abate sectors, like heavy industry and transportation, and can provide long-duration energy storage. With this investment in the MACH2 Hub, DOE is eager to help build this indispensable network of hydrogen producers, consumers, and connective infrastructure in the region, while creating an estimated 20,000 jobs.”
“To be one of seven regional hydrogen hubs chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy – out of 79 that originally started the process – is a really big deal,” said Gov. John Carney. “This designation will bring $750 million for Delaware and our partners in the region to build a clean energy industry that will create thousands of good union jobs. And Delaware communities are a significant part of this plan. The point of cleaner energy is to make things cleaner and better for people – especially those who live in disadvantaged communities. There will be an opportunity at each stage for the Delawareans to weigh in and shape these projects, and we encourage the public to participate.”
“As the nation’s lowest-lying state, Delaware faces particularly acute challenges from climate change-related natural disasters, and so a transition to energy sources like clean hydrogen is crucial for our state,” said US Sen. Chris Coons, co-chair of the Bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus. “To do that, we can’t leave behind the workers and the infrastructure and the systems that we’ve built. MACH2 is a critical opportunity to transition the skills of Delaware workers, upgrade the facilities of our local refineries and industrial pipelines and manufacturing facilities, and innovate, innovate, innovate. We have an opportunity here to show that we can transform, and that we can compete, and if we do that, we won’t just save our world and our climate – we will save our communities, as well.”
