Sen. Menendez announces selection of Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub to receive up to $750M to help generate good paying clean energy manufacturing, jobs in the region

NEW JERSEY – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) announces the selection of the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub to receive federal funding as part of the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, which will lower emissions and create good-paying jobs in New Jersey.

Across the country, seven clean hydrogen hubs were selected to receive $7 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to accelerate the domestic market for low-cost, clean hydrogen and drive clean jobs.

Senator Menendez played a critical role in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s successful passage through Congress and advocated for the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub’s selection as part of this initiative.

“With this announcement, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware residents and families will be afforded this once-in-a-generation investment that prioritizes our climate resilience and combats climate change by reducing emissions,” Menendez said. “The Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub will reduce the levels of pollution communities across the state face every day while creating good-paying jobs for American engineers, manufacturing workers, and construction workers. I am proud of the critical role I played in securing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s passage through Congress which provides funding for these hydrogen hub projects, and the work being done to secure a greener, healthier New Jersey.”

The Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub includes southern New Jersey, the Delaware River, Pennsylvania, and Delaware and will help unlock hydrogen-driven decarbonization in the Mid-Atlantic while repurposing historic oil infrastructure and using existing rights-of-way.

This hydrogen hub anticipates creating 20,800 direct jobs with 14,400 in construction and 6,400 in permanent jobs. The Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub plans to develop renewable hydrogen production facilities from renewables and nuclear electricity where it can help reduce costs and drive further technology adoption.

It aims to expand hydrogen application to industries including heavy transportation (e.g., trucks, buses, refuse trucks, and street sweepers), manufacturing and industrial process improvements, and combined heat and power, where it can significantly reduce carbon emission by approximately 1 million metric tons per year, which is roughly equivalent to the emissions from 220,000 cars annually.

Advancing clean hydrogen is essential to achieving a strong clean energy economy that strengthens energy security, bolsters domestic manufacturing, creates healthier communities, and delivers new jobs and economic opportunities across the nation.

The seven selected regional clean hydrogen hubs will catalyze more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs – bringing the total public and private investment in hydrogen hubs to nearly $50 billion. Roughly two-thirds of total project investments are associated with green (electrolysis-based) production, within the hubs.

Several of the hubs were developed in close partnerships with labor unions, with three requiring project labor agreements (PLAs). In addition to job creation and creating healthier air for communities, the hydrogen selected hubs are committed to robust Community Benefit Plans to ensure local priorities are at the forefront and all communities share in the benefits of the clean energy transition.

Collectively, the hubs aim to produce more than three million metric tons of clean hydrogen per year, thereby achieving nearly one third of the 2030 U.S. clean hydrogen production goal. Together, the seven hydrogen hubs will eliminate 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from end uses each year—an amount roughly equivalent to combined annual emissions of over 5.5 million gasoline-powered cars. The nearly $50 billion investment is one of the largest investments in clean manufacturing and jobs in history.

Clean hydrogen can reduce emissions in many sectors of the economy and is especially important for hard-to-decarbonize sectors and industrial processes, such as heavy-duty transportation and chemical, steel, and cement manufacturing. Targeted investments in these areas can help reduce costs, make new breakthroughs, and create jobs for American engineers, manufacturing workers, construction workers, and others.

In September, Sen. Menendez announced a combined total of $7 million for New Jersey entities from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Efficiency and Rewewable Energy (EERE) for selected projects across the nation to drive innovation that will advance the next generation of materials, manufacturing and related energy technologies required to strengthen America’s economic competitiveness and move the U.S. towards a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

In June, Sen. Menendez announced that Camden has been selected to receive $1 million from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the cleanup of Judge Robert B. Johnson Park. In total, EPA recently selected 262 communities to receive 267 grants totaling more than $215 million in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) grant programs. Thanks to the historic boost from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this is the most funding ever awarded in the history of the EPA Brownfields grant program.

Later that month, Sen. Menendez announced $47 million for the New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) Corporation to modernize the Hilton Bus Garage, located in Maplewood to accommodate battery-electric buses and increase transit service to densely populated communities and frequently travelled areas through emission conscious vehicle deployment. This will include electrification equipment and a worker training program.