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Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced the closing of a $1.66 billion loan guarantee ($1.55 billion in principal and $107 million in capitalized interest) to Plug Power Inc.’s (Plug) subsidiary, Plug Power Energy Loan Borrower, LLC, to help finance the construction of up to six facilities across several states that will produce clean hydrogen utilizing the company’s own electrolyzer technology. Advancing clean hydrogen is a key component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to building a robust clean energy economy that creates healthier communities, strengthens energy security, and delivers new economic opportunities across the nation. Today’s announcement will help unlock the full potential of this versatile fuel and support the growth of strong, American-led industry that ensures the United States remains at the forefront of the global economy for generations to come. Plug submitted its application to LPO in November 2020.
Together with the DOE Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, and ongoing research, development, and demonstration in the DOE Hydrogen Program, this project will help strengthen local economies, create and maintain high-quality jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in sectors critical to meeting U.S. net-zero goals, and enhance America’s manufacturing and industrial competitiveness.
The Department is also releasing an update to the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Clean Hydrogen report. First released in March 2023, the report has been updated to reflect the significant progress made by the U.S. clean hydrogen industry since that time. Combined with the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub awards and additional hydrogen manufacturing projects, the updated Liftoff report and Plug Power loan guarantee underscore DOE’s continued support for clean hydrogen.
Plug has a development pipeline that includes the build-out of clean hydrogen facilities in several potential locations across the United States to supply its national customer base with end-to-end clean hydrogen at scale. This project advances President Biden’s efforts to strengthen domestic clean energy supply chains, which are essential to meeting the nation’s ambitious climate goals and enhancing our national and energy security. Once complete, the project will support an integrated and resilient commercial scale clean hydrogen fueling network across several regions of the United States.
The hydrogen fuel from the project is expected to power fuel cell-electric vehicles used in the material handling, transportation, and industrial sectors, resulting in an estimated 84% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional hydrogen production, which derives hydrogen from natural gas (CH4) and ultimately produces carbon dioxide (CO2). The benefits of harnessing hydrogen fuel cells in applications such as material handling equipment include enhanced operational efficiency, reduced environmental impact through zero-emission operations, and increased productivity due to faster refueling times compared to conventional batteries. Major corporations such as Amazon, Walmart and Home Depot use Plug’s hydrogen fuel cells across their warehouse and distribution centers.
The clean hydrogen facilities will utilize Plug’s electrolyzer stacks that are manufactured at the company’s state-of-the-art gigafactory in Rochester, NY and will use modular designs to ensure a resilient hydrogen fuel delivery network. Plug is among the leading commercial-scale manufacturers of electrolyzers in the United States and currently operates the largest Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer system in the United States at its Georgia hydrogen plant.
Electrolyzers use electricity to split water into its component parts, hydrogen and oxygen. Plug’s PEM technology allows it to operate efficiently even with variable electricity, enabling it to leverage electricity from intermittent renewables. Electrolyzers that use renewables to power their hydrogen production produce emissions-free clean hydrogen. The electrolyzer stacks can be easily configured to produce systems at 1 megawatt (MW), 5 MW, and 10 MW scales. (One MW powers the equivalent of 750 American homes based on their instantaneous demand.)
As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to create good-paying, high-quality job opportunities for American workers, this loan guarantee will support an estimated 100-200 jobs during the construction period when at full capacity, and at least 50 new full-time jobs for each location.
LPO borrowers are required to develop and implement a strong Community Benefits Plan (CBP) for each project. Through their CBP, Plug has committed to working with local communities for project siting, including soliciting input from local economic development corporations. In particular, Plug will initiate a community outreach program dedicated to promoting awareness, understanding, and utilization of hydrogen as a clean and sustainable energy source, which aims to engage and empower communities by providing educational resources, interactive activities, and collaborative initiatives that highlight the benefits and potential applications of hydrogen technology. Plug employs local workforce development strategies and programs that leverage the comprehensive suite of services offered by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act’s network of One-Stop Career Centers, including the development of apprenticeship programs for operations jobs. This investment supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investment in climate, clean energy, and other areas flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
The financing is offered through LPO’s Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, which includes financing opportunities for innovative energy and supply chain projects like Plug’s, certain state-supported projects, and projects that reinvest in existing energy infrastructure.
Across all LPO’s programs, DOE has attracted 182 applications for projects across the country totaling over $278.9 billion in requested loans and loan guarantees, as of December 2024. For more information about Plug Power, read the conditional commitment blog post and visit LPO’s portfolio project page.
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