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By Cindy Gonzalez
October 14, 2023

Snubbed as a regional ‘hydrogen hub,’ Nebraskans remain charged up about clean energy growth


A rendering of Monolith’s Olive Creek expansion is pictured here with the company’s current facility in the background.
(Courtesy of Monolith) By Cindy Gonzalez

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) - While Nebraska officials were disappointed Friday at being passed over for a billion-dollar “hydrogen hub” grant, they said the two-year application process strengthened regional alliances and positions the state for other opportunities.

And two Nebraska companies that would have benefited from the federal funding — Monolith of Hallam, and Project Meadowlark of Gothenburg — both said the rejection won’t stop their expansion plans, though the dollars could have accelerated or improved them.

“It’s unfortunate,” State Sen. Bruce Bostelman, chair of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, said following news that a Nebraska-Iowa-Missouri partnership was not among seven regional hubs selected to share $7 billion in funding from the Department of Energy.

“But it was time well spent,” the Brainard lawmaker said. “They learned a lot going through the process.”

Poised to pursue other opportunities

Courtney Dentlinger is spokeswoman for the Nebraska Public Power District, which spearheaded the tri-state request dubbed MCH2, or Mid-Continent Clean Hydrogen Hub.

She foresees other funding opportunities to bolster the area’s hydrogen and clean energy industry, and anticipates that new alliances formed and information learned will assist future efforts.

“The process of pulling together all of these various industry players has been tremendously beneficial,” Dentlinger said. “Having a hub designation isn’t going to hold us back from pursuing other incredible opportunities.”

Nebraska officials reacted Friday to a White House announcement that the Biden administration will direct $7 billion from the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law to build seven regional hydrogen power hubs.

States typically partnered with others to form a hub, so 16 states are represented among the victors: 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 might also involve Louisiana, an administration official said.

The hubs — each of them a cluster of assets that produce and process hydrogen fuel as an alternative to fossil fuels — are expected to benefit the climate, economy and U.S. energy security.

Hydrogen fuel is key to the Biden administration’s goal to reach zero emissions by 2050. Clean hydrogen is especially important for the most difficult sectors to decarbonize, including heavy-duty transportation and chemical, steel and cement manufacturing, according to a White House media statement.

“Advancing clean hydrogen is essential to achieving the President’s vision of a strong clean energy economy that strengthens energy security, bolsters domestic manufacturing, creates healthier communities, and delivers new jobs and economic opportunities across the nation,” said the statement.

The seven hubs are expected to reduce carbon emissions by 25 million metric tons annually, 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.

Support from governors, lawmakers

Gov. Jim Pillen’s office said in a statement Friday that it was “unfortunate the federal government failed to see the benefit of growing the hydrogen economy here in the Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri region.”

Said Pillen spokeswoman Laura Strimple: “To be sure, the hydrogen economy is coming with or without federal funding. We look forward to supporting this innovative industry as it continues to grow in our state.”

Nebraska, since early 2022, has been discussing the quest to become part of a regional hydrogen power hub, which also was touted as a way to create more jobs.

Governors of the three states were excited. State lawmakers, led by Bostelman, passed a bill to set up a working group to seek the designation, and later approved $500,000 in funding to further support and prepare the application.

Bostelman at that time called Nebraska a “prime candidate” to become a hub, in part because of the state’s central location but also because of the large-scale production of clean hydrogen by Monolith and its plan to expand.

Multiple businesses, state agencies and nonprofits were involved in the three-state MCH2 application, but at the heart of the effort were five capital projects — including the Monolith and Meadowlark ventures — that aimed to produce and consume clean hydrogen. Those regional projects would have benefited from the federal funds, which also required a local match.

Moving ahead, though perhaps at different pace

Dan Levy, a spokesman for Monolith, said the hub funding might have accelerated his  company’s expansion. But even without it, he said, the plan to enlarge the clean hydrogen and carbon black production campus is moving forward in Nebraska, with help from a separate $1.04 billion Energy Department loan approved in late 2021.

Once completed, the company said, its expanded plant will generate about 260 direct and 600 indirect “green energy” jobs and is to be the largest carbon black production facility in the nation.

Said Levy: “Although we weren’t awarded a hydrogen hub, the collaborative process of developing this application is priceless and we want to continue working with key stakeholders on ways to grow a clean hydrogen industry in the state.”

Joshua Westling of the Meadowlark Project said his group is moving forward with its plan to build a  multimillion-dollar Gothenburg factory that will use electricity instead of natural gas to make “eco-friendlier” fertilizer.

Meadowlark was touted in the MCH2 application as critical to the Corn Belt. It said the plant “will be the first-ever local access source of clean fertilizer in Nebraska” — and offer a better buy for local farmers than dry fertilizer.

Westling, a Nebraska native, said he and his partners started planning the fertilizer project in 2017, and have garnered other funding commitments. The hub dollars could have made the vision “better and more compelling,” he said, but construction was not predicated on them.

Dentlinger said the MCH2 project might have been hurt by “geography,” namely, she said, the region’s lesser population relative to other areas.

She said all the partners will assemble in the near future to talk about next steps.

“All of us are committed to helping position Nebraska and the region to be full participants in the hydrogen economy.”

Hub projects announced Friday:

  • Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, which will power the region’s manufacturing sector, according to an administration 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.
  • Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems in California, which is to provide a blueprint for decarbonizing public transportation, heavy duty trucking and port operations — sources of air pollution that are among the hardest to decarbonize, according to the news release.
  • HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub based in Houston, “perhaps” expanding into Louisiana, which will be the largest in terms of the amount of “green hydrogen,” the cleanest form of hydrogen fuel, produced.
  • Heartland Hydrogen Hub based in Minnesota with “significant” assets in North Dakota and South Dakota. That hub will use wind resources in those states, according to an official, and help decarbonize the area’s agriculture sector, according to the release.
  • Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. This hub will use repurposed oil infrastructure, the release said.
  • Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen in Illinois, Indiana and Southwest Michigan. The hub will produce hydrogen with nuclear power in the area. Two other sites will use nuclear power, though the Midwest site is planned to be the largest user of nuclear power, the official said. The hub will enable decarbonization of steel and glass production, power generation, refining, heavy-duty transportation, and sustainable aviation fuel, according to the release.
  • Pacific NW Hydrogen Hub encompasses eastern Washington, northeast Oregon and parts of Montana. This hub will produce hydrogen exclusively from renewable energy sources, according to the news release.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 


 

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