Clean Hydrogen Hub in Michigan Gets $22M in Federal Backing

LANSING, MI – More than $22 million in newly awarded federal funds will move a planned hydrogen hub in Michigan further toward development.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week announced that a state-supported clean hydrogen hub project received $22.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop regional supply chains for hydrogen-fueled trucks and heavy-duty vehicles.

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MachH2 Hydrogen Hub in Michigan

The Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2) is meant to create a clean hydrogen production plant in Ypsilanti and expand a similar facility and refueling center for public transit in Flint. Another part of the plan is to build a hydrogen “truck stop of the future” in Detroit to help decarbonize heavy-duty road traffic.

“With more strategic partnerships like this hydrogen hub, we can build a future where everyone can make it in Michigan,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a statement.

Additional clean hydrogen production sites are planned in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa as part of the broader Midwest project. Advocates say the effort will create 12,000 jobs and spur economic growth in the burgeoning hydrogen sector.

Federal Support for Hydrogen Development

MachH2 in Michigan was one of seven hydrogen projects selected by federal energy officials last year to bolster the clean energy sector across the Midwest. The federal dollars announced this week for the hydrogen hub will pay for the first phase of planning and development.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor, said this funding is a follow-through on the federal government’s promise to kickstart a new domestic hydrogen industry that can produce fuel from “almost any energy resource in virtually every part of the country and that can power heavy-duty vehicles, heat homes, and fertilize crops.”

Granholm continued that the federal hydrogen hubs program signals a commitment to strengthen America’s energy security and boost economic and global competitiveness while also tackling the climate crisis.

Collaboration Among Midwest States

States participating in the Midwest hub project—Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan—must provide matching dollars for federal money funneled to developments in each place.

State officials said Michigan is poised to lead the way in the hydrogen renaissance with expected environmental and economic benefits.

“Clean hydrogen provides an alternate pathway to reaching our healthy climate goals, to creating jobs, and ultimately to removing carbon dioxide from our industry and transportation,” said Zach Kolodin, Michigan’s top infrastructure officer.

Clean Hydrogen’s Role in Decarbonization

Clean hydrogen is described as a “flexible energy carrier” that can be made from a variety of energy sources, whether renewable, nuclear, or fossil fuels with carbon-capture technology. The expectation is that hydrogen fuel can be used to decarbonize both heavy transportation and industry, such as steel production, glass manufacturing, refining, and electricity generation.

Estimates for the MachH2 hub are that in the long term it could lead to the reduction of carbon emissions by nearly 4 million metric tons per year.

The burning of fossil fuels for transportation and industry releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Increasing levels of those gases cause global warming and climate changes through the greenhouse effect.