BALTIMORE (Oct. 16, 2023) — Constellation (Nasdaq: CEG), the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy, is a major participant in the MachH2 hydrogen hub recently selected for up to $1 billion by the Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Constellation will use a portion of the hub funding to build the world’s largest nuclear-powered clean hydrogen production facility at its LaSalle Clean Energy Center in Illinois. The project will produce an estimated 33,450 tons of clean hydrogen each year and create thousands of good-paying jobs. Constellation estimates its LaSalle clean hydrogen facility will cost about $900 million, with a portion of the MachH2 award offsetting the project’s cost.
The Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2) is made up of more than 70 public and private entities representing every phase in the hydrogen value chain. The projects are concentrated in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, with further representation from Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. With this award, the hub is poised to unleash billions of dollars in investment, decarbonize heavy industries, create an estimated 13,600 direct jobs and help secure U.S. leadership on clean energy.
“We are delighted to be part of this incredibly important hub in the nation's heartland,” said Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation. “In the months leading up to this selection, Constellation, organized labor partners and business leaders have urged the administration to provide important guidance implementing Congress' intention to allow hydrogen production using carbon-free power from existing nuclear stations to earn tax credits contained in the Inflation Reduction Act. Without those credits, projects like this one will not go forward. Today's award is proof positive that DOE and the administration want existing nuclear energy to play a vital role in jumpstarting domestic hydrogen production and we look forward to final Treasury Department guidance. Today is a great day for America, for clean energy, for jobs and for the environment.”
Today’s announcement means the MachH2 alliance will enter negotiations with DOE to finalize details and conditions of the award.
Constellation’s LaSalle clean hydrogen facility would employ lessons learned from Constellation’s 1 MW demonstration-scale, nuclear-powered clean hydrogen production facility at the Nine Mile Point Clean Energy Center in Oswego, N.Y. Funded in part through a separate DOE grant, the project began full production in March 2023, making it the first nuclear-powered hydrogen facility of its size in the U.S.
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Oct 15, 2024
