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    Plug Power's $1.66B Loan Guarantee Committed to Building Six Green Hydrogen Production Plants

    Jan. 17, 2025
    Plug Power plans to build up six green hydrogen-electrolyzer plants with the LPO loan funds. Early in 2024, Plug commenced operations on its electrolytic liquid hydrogen production plant in Georgia.
    Image credit Plug Power
    678a64417c66d5a82c0a142e Plug Power H2

    Hydrogen fuel cell and infrastructure provider Plug Power has now closed on a $1.66 billion federal loan guarantee that will enable it to finance construction of green hydrogen production facilities across the U.S.

    The loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, announced in the last days of the hydrogen-friendly Biden Administration, finally delivers on a LPO application made by Plug in 2020. The company generates green hydrogen, which does not emit carbon dioxide, from electrolyzers which are powered by carbon-free generation such as solar, wind, hydro or nuclear.

    Plug Power plans to build up six green hydrogen-electrolyzer plants with the LPO loan funds. Early in 2024, Plug commenced operations on its electrolytic liquid hydrogen production plant that is designed to produce 15 metric tons per day in Woodbine, Georgia.

    “Finalizing this loan guarantee with the Department of Energy represents a significant step in the expansion of our domestic manufacturing and hydrogen production capabilities, which create many high-quality jobs throughout the U.S.,” said Plug CEO Andy Marsh in a statement. “In addition to reducing carbon emissions and enhancing the resilience of the U.S. energy grid, we believe the hydrogen economy aligns closely with national security interests, ensuring that the U.S. remains at the forefront of energy technology development and deployment on a global scale.”

    The first plant to be built through DOE financing is Plug’s green hydrogen facility in Graham, Texas. The electrolyzers at that plant will be powered by an adjacent wind energy farm.

    Read EnergyTech's full Coverage of Green Hydrogen

    Plug Power currently has other hydrogen generation facilities in Charleston, Tenn., and in Louisiana. Together with the Woodbine facility, those plants can produce up to 45 metric tons of green hydrogen per day.

    Other commercial green liquid hydrogen projects led by Plug Power include collaborations with TC Energy, Renault, Lhyfe, Airbus, Delta and Amazon, among others. Plug Power’s project pipeline also totals about 69,000 fuel cell systems and more than 250 H2 fueling stations.

    Hydrogen is an energy-dense gas which can help decarbonize power generation and transportation, according to proponents. It already is produced for industrial purposes although the U.S. Gulf Coast, but much of that output is generated through steam reforming of methane natural gas, which is carbon intensive.

    The DOE goal under the Biden Administration has been to develop a nationwide system called the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program (H2Hubs). The funding aimed at that deployment comes from $8 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress and signed in 2021.

    The Biden era DOE has committed to hydrogen as part of the decarbonization plans for the commercial and industrial sectors. The federal “Clean Hydrogen Commercial Liftoff” report acknowledges the criticality of hydrogen in manufacturing, petrochemical processes and transportation.

    The Liftoff program has reportedly been on track to scale green hydrogen production nationwide from less than 1 million metric tons to at least 7 million metric tons per year by 2030, according to the report.

    Many in the long-haul trucking industry contend that hydrogen fuel cells offer more power and range, as well shorter refueling times, than battery-electric powertrain technology.

     

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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