Advancing the Clean Hydrogen Future Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2200 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a research, development, demonstration, and deployment program to improve the efficiency, in- crease the durability, and reduce the cost of producing hydrogen using electrolyzers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 23, 2021 Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a research, development, demonstration, and deployment program to improve the efficiency, increase the durability, and reduce the cost of producing hydrogen using electrolyzers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advancing the Clean 4 Hydrogen Future Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 The purposes of this Act are— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2200 IS (1) to enhance the leadership role of the United 1 States in the widespread use of renewable energy 2 and clean energy technologies; 3 (2) to reduce greenhouse emissions in the 4 United States by increasing the supply of economical 5 hydrogen for use in transportation, industrial, and 6 power-generation applications; 7 (3) to support existing electrolyzer research, de- 8 velopment, and demonstration efforts of the Depart- 9 ment, including the H2NEW consortium of National 10 Laboratories and the hydrogen and fuel cell commu- 11 nity, which was established by the Office of Hydro- 12 gen and Fuel Cell Technologies of the Department 13 and focuses on making large-scale electrolyzers more 14 durable, efficient, and affordable; and 15 (4) to promote job creation in the United States 16 through the manufacturing of advanced clean energy 17 technologies, including through the manufacturing of 18 electrolyzers and associated systems. 19 SEC. 3. HYDROGEN ELECTROLYSIS RESEARCH, DEVELOP- 20 MENT, DEMONSTRATION, AND DEPLOYMENT 21 PROGRAM. 22 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 23 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 24 means the Department of Energy. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2200 IS (2) ELECTROLYSIS.—The term ‘‘electrolysis’’ 1 means a process that uses electricity to split water 2 into hydrogen and oxygen. 3 (3) ELECTROLYZER.—The term ‘‘electrolyzer’’ 4 means a system that produces hydrogen using elec- 5 trolysis. 6 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 7 ty’’ means— 8 (A) an institution of higher education; 9 (B) a nongovernmental organization; 10 (C) a National Laboratory; 11 (D) a federally recognized Tribal govern- 12 ment or Tribal organization; 13 (E) a private entity; and 14 (F) a partnership or consortium of 2 or 15 more entities described in subparagraphs (A) 16 through (E). 17 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 18 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 19 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 20 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 21 (6) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 22 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 23 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 24 U.S.C. 15801). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2200 IS (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 1 the program established under subsection (b). 2 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Energy. 4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 6 tablish a research, development, demonstration, and de- 7 ployment program to improve the efficiency, increase the 8 durability, and reduce the cost of producing hydrogen 9 using electrolyzers. 10 (c) COORDINATION.—In establishing and carrying 11 out the program, the Secretary shall— 12 (1) coordinate activities carried out under this 13 section with— 14 (A) activities carried out under other rel- 15 evant programs of the Department, including 16 activities carried out by the National Labora- 17 tories; and 18 (B) activities carried out by other relevant 19 Federal agencies; 20 (2) effectively manage crosscutting research pri- 21 orities across relevant programs of the Department, 22 including programs carried out by the National Lab- 23 oratories; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2200 IS (3) coordinate with the heads of other relevant 1 Federal agencies to ensure the effective management 2 of crosscutting research priorities shared by the De- 3 partment and those agencies. 4 (d) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out the program, 5 the Secretary shall collaborate with— 6 (1) industry; 7 (2) the National Laboratories; 8 (3) other relevant Federal agencies; 9 (4) relevant State agencies; 10 (5) institutions of higher education; and 11 (6) international bodies with relevant scientific 12 and technical expertise. 13 (e) GOAL.—The goal of the program is to reduce the 14 cost of hydrogen produced using electrolyzers to less than 15 $2 per kilogram of hydrogen by 2026. 16 (f) DURATION.—The program shall have a duration 17 of 5 years. 18 (g) FOCUS.—The program shall focus on research re- 19 lating to, and the development, demonstration, and deploy- 20 ment of— 21 (1) low-temperature electrolyzers, including liq- 22 uid-alkaline electrolyzers, membrane-based 23 electrolyzers, and other advanced electrolyzers, capa- 24 ble of converting intermittent sources of electric 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2200 IS power to hydrogen with enhanced efficiency and du- 1 rability; 2 (2) high-temperature electrolyzers that combine 3 electricity and heat to improve the efficiency of hy- 4 drogen production; 5 (3) advanced reversible fuel cells that combine 6 the functionality of an electrolyzer and a fuel cell; 7 (4) new highly active, selective, and durable 8 electrolyzer catalysts and electro-catalysts that— 9 (A) greatly reduce or eliminate the need 10 for platinum group metals; and 11 (B) enable electrolysis of complex mixtures 12 with impurities, including seawater; 13 (5) modular electrolyzers for distributed energy 14 systems and the bulk-power system (as defined in 15 section 215(a) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 16 824o(a))); 17 (6) low-cost membranes or electrolytes and sep- 18 aration materials that are durable in the presence of 19 impurities or seawater; 20 (7) improved component design and material in- 21 tegration, including with respect to electrodes, po- 22 rous transport layers and bipolar plates, and bal- 23 ance-of-system components, to allow for scale-up and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2200 IS domestic manufacturing of electrolyzers at a high 1 volume; 2 (8) hydrogen storage technologies; 3 (9) technologies that integrate hydrogen pro- 4 duction with— 5 (A) hydrogen compression and drying tech- 6 nologies; 7 (B) hydrogen storage; and 8 (C) transportation or stationary systems; 9 and 10 (10) integrated systems that combine hydrogen 11 production with renewable power generation tech- 12 nologies, including hybrid systems with hydrogen 13 storage. 14 (h) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, COOPERATIVE AGREE- 15 MENTS, AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 16 (1) GRANTS.—In carrying out the program, the 17 Secretary shall award grants, on a competitive basis, 18 to eligible entities for projects that the Secretary de- 19 termines would provide the greatest progress toward 20 achieving the goal of the program described in sub- 21 section (e). 22 (2) CONTRACTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREE- 23 MENTS.—In carrying out the program, the Secretary 24 may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2200 IS with eligible entities and Federal agencies for 1 projects that the Secretary determines would further 2 the purpose of the program described in subsection 3 (b). 4 (3) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—In sup- 5 porting technologies developed under the program, 6 the Secretary shall fund demonstration projects— 7 (A) to demonstrate technologies that 8 produce hydrogen using electrolysis; and 9 (B) to validate information on the cost, ef- 10 ficiency, durability, and feasibility of commer- 11 cial deployment of the technologies described in 12 subparagraph (A). 13 (4) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity desiring 14 to receive a grant under paragraph (1), to enter into 15 a contract or cooperative agreement under para- 16 graph (2), or to receive funding for a demonstration 17 project under paragraph (3) shall submit to the Sec- 18 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 19 and containing such information as the Secretary 20 may require. 21 (5) COST SHARING.—In awarding grants, enter- 22 ing into contracts and cooperative agreements, and 23 funding demonstration projects under this section, 24 the Secretary shall require cost sharing in accord- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2200 IS ance with section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 1 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352). 2 (i) REPORTS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit 4 to Congress 2 reports describing, as of the date of 5 the applicable report— 6 (A) the activities carried out by the Sec- 7 retary under this section; and 8 (B) any progress made toward achieving 9 the goal of the program described in subsection 10 (e). 11 (2) TIMING OF SUBMISSIONS.—The Secretary 12 shall submit the reports described in paragraph (1) 13 by— 14 (A) in the case of the first report, not later 15 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 16 Act; and 17 (B) in the case of the second report, not 18 later than 6 years after that date of enactment. 19 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 20 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 21 out the program $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 22 2022 through 2026, to remain available until expended. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS