Major utilities form six-state Southeast Hydrogen Hub

A coalition of five major utilities, along with subsidiaries, rose in the American Southeast this week, in the form of the Southeast Hydrogen Hub, in hopes of capitalizing on the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) funding opportunity for regional hydrogen hubs.

Hydrogen is a dispatchable energy source, capable of being turned on or off as needed for the energy system. The Biden administration has eyed it as having the potential to aid climate change and carbon reduction goals, and devoted hubs are seen as a way to focus development on scalable, integrated projects that would allow members to deploy hydrogen as decarbonization solutions nationwide.

“Hydrogen will play an important role in our region’s clean energy transition and Dominion Energy’s path to net-zero emissions,” said Mark Webb, chief innovation officer of Dominion Energy, one of the founders of the Southeast Hydrogen Hub. “From electricity and home heating to transportation and manufacturing, hydrogen will bring jobs, investment, and clean energy to every sector of the Southeast U.S. economy. We’re excited to partner with all the members of the Southeast Hydrogen Hub coalition to deliver on this promise for our customers and the communities we serve.”

In addition to Dominion, which pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 for all electric and natural gas operations by 2050, other founding members of the Southeast Hydrogen Hub include Duke Energy, Louisville Gas and Electric Company/Kentucky Utilities Company, Southern Company and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Each came to the coalition with similar goals, seeking net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, though their interim milestones differed.

The DOE has put up $8 billion for regional hydrogen hubs as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and these companies intend to pursue that funding. They added that they expect coalition membership to grow further as news of the opportunity spreads, and interest in hydrogen picks up.

Membership also includes some of the formers’ subsidiaries, such as Southern’s Georgia Power, a utility that has already reduced its carbon emissions by more than 60 percent since 2007. Georgia Power also worked alongside Mitsubishi Power and the Electric Power Research Institute this summer to test fuel blending of hydrogen and natural gas at both partial and full loads on a natural gas turbine. That demonstration project was deemed a success and the first validation of 20 percent hydrogen fuel blending on an advanced-class gas turbine in North America.

That effort provided some good numbers for hydrogen’s future: it showcased an approximately 7 percent reduction in carbon emissions compared to natural gas.

“The Southeast continues to be one of the most innovative and forward-looking parts of the country when it comes to advancing new energy technologies that help decarbonize the grid while also growing the economy and bringing jobs, and today’s announcement reinforces our region’s leadership in this area,” Chris Womack, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power, said. “As we continue to make smart investments that help us better deliver clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy for our customers, we see incredible potential in the future use of hydrogen as part of our diverse energy mix.”

In a statement, the companies involved in the Southeast Hydrogen Hub added that a hub in their region could bring robust economic development benefits and accelerate decarbonization across all sectors of the economy. In addition to energy companies, the coalition also includes organizations like the Battelle Memorial Institute – a private nonprofit dedicated to science and technology development, with extensive programming experience with the Department of Energy and other federal agencies.