The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a conditional commitment to provide Plug Power Inc. with a loan guarantee of up to $1.66 billion. This financial support will help Plug Power build up to six facilities across various states to produce clean hydrogen using their advanced electrolyzer technology.
This move is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which aims to create good-paying jobs for American workers. If the loan guarantee is finalized, it will support around 300 jobs during the construction phase and create at least 50 full-time jobs at each new location. This project aligns with the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap and aims to boost local economies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance America’s competitiveness in manufacturing and industry.
Plug Power currently operates several clean hydrogen production facilities across the U.S., supplying a national customer base with large-scale clean hydrogen. This loan guarantee will help strengthen domestic clean energy supply chains, which are crucial for meeting the nation’s ambitious climate goals and improving national energy security.
The new facilities will use Plug Power’s electrolyzer stacks, manufactured at their gigafactory in Rochester, New York. These stacks will be part of a modular design to ensure a reliable hydrogen fuel delivery network. Plug Power is a leader in the U.S. for manufacturing electrolyzers and operates the country’s largest proton exchange membrane electrolyzer system at their Georgia plant.
Plug Power has been at the forefront of hydrogen innovation for over a decade. They successfully demonstrated hydrogen fuel cell-powered lift trucks with support from DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO). The partnership between HFTO and Plug Power has led to many advancements in hydrogen technology. This conditional loan guarantee is a significant milestone in their ongoing collaboration.