Regional clean hydrogen hubs should take a holistic approach to identify the ingredients to make projects successful and drive broader market formation. To assess the near-term potential of clean hydrogen market development, EFI developed a tool for profiling the diverse array of potential energy resources, workforce capabilities, economic and political interests, and demand sources across the country. These distinct elements—ingredients for regional hydrogen hub formation—can be used by policymakers, investors, and energy incumbents to evaluate the unique regional opportunities to unlock clean hydrogen’s potential.
EFI’s Hydrogen Transition Framework (HyTF, pronounced “high-tiff”) informs EFI’s internal analysis on a variety of fronts, including environmental justice, the jobs transition, and hub formation. As a web tool for external users, HyTF can provide several key functions for hub applicants, developers, and H2Hubs reviewers at the U.S. Department of Energy. In the detailed planning phase, for example, conceptual designs for hubs will need to consolidate information on the production methods, hydrogen transportation and storage, demand centers, institutions, and other stakeholders that will collaborate to develop the hub. HyTF provides this information in a single interface, acting much like an inventory of opportunities for H2Hubs.
When putting together a workforce plan or market potential analysis, developers can also leverage HyTF to understand where labor supply or a large power plant with the potential to fuel switch are located. The latter could inform a financial or capacity expansion modeling exercise, as could the hydrogen production facilities or any other identified potential demand sectors. Techno-economic analyses could similarly be informed by HyTF, including the renewable or natural gas production potential of a region, carbon storage costs, demand potential, and water availability.
(Share this post with others.)
