On March 13, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of our project “Development of Readily Manufactured and Interface Engineered Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells with High Efficiency and Durability” for funding with $3.1 million, which will focus on interface engineering and optimization to improve proton-conducting solid oxide electrolyzer performance and durability. This effort builds off recent successful interfacial optimization work and incorporates additional activities focused on high-efficiency and long lifetime stacks designed for scalable manufacturing. We will work with Dr. Bilge Yildiz at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr. Chuancheng Duan at Kansas State University, and Chemtronergy LLC in Salt Lake City, to deliver the efficient and durable high-temperature electrolysis technology.

This announcement represents the first phase of implementation of two provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which authorizes $1 billion for research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) activities to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen produced via electrolysis and $500 million for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of improved processes and technologies for manufacturing and recycling clean hydrogen systems and materials. These projects will directly produce more than 1,500 new jobs, along with thousands of additional jobs indirectly generated through regional economic activity. Additionally, these projects will provide support to 32 disadvantaged communities.

Together with the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs), tax incentives in the President’s historic Inflation Reduction Act, and ongoing research, development, and demonstration in the DOE Hydrogen Program, these investments will help DOE achieve its ambitious Hydrogen Shot goal of reducing the cost of producing clean hydrogen to $1 per kilogram. These projects will also support the long-term viability of the H2Hubs and other emerging commercial-scale deployments by helping to solve the underlying technical barriers to cost reduction that can’t be overcome by scale alone.

For more details, please refer to this link: https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/bipartisan-infrastructure-law-clean-hydrogen-electrolysis-manufacturing-and-0