Electric Hydrogen, a Natick-based company with a major manufacturing facility at Devens, has secured a $46.3 million grant from the Department of Energy.
The grant, awarded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Clean Electrolysis Program, recognizes the company’s strides in electrolyzer manufacturing. It is the largest of five grants totaling $95 million awarded to green hydrogen companies based in Massachusetts.
So-called green hydrogen is manufactured using an electrolyzer, a device that splits water into its constituent elements of hydrogen and oxygen. By powering the process with renewable wind or solar energy, the gas can be manufactured without the use of fossil fuels.
Hydrogen gas, the first element in the periodic table, is inherently carbon-free and can be used as a clean energy source. Hydrogen is used today in the production of steel and ammonia and in fuel-cell-powered cars and trucks. Green hydrogen also helps address the intermittency of solar and wind energy. Hydrogen gas can be produced and stored during peak renewable energy production and released to generate electricity when needed.
Electric Hydrogen is a manufacturer of advanced industrial-scale hydrogen electrolyzers. Last year, the company leased 187,000 square feet of a newly built facility at 33 Jackson Road in Devens for research, development, manufacturing, and testing of electrolysis and related equipment. The company says the factory will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 1.2 gigawatts with production of its 100-megawatt green hydrogen electrolyzers commencing this year.
Among a host of other green energy companies, Electric Hydrogen, founded in 2020, has attracted investments totaling nearly $600 million. According to company sources, the grant money will be used to scale up production at the Devens plant.
“Our company has a single purpose: to make molecules to decarbonize our world,” stated Dr. David Eaglesham, Electric Hydrogen’s chief technology officer and co-founder. “Industrial sectors such as fertilizer and steel need new ways to reliably replace fossil resources at costs that work. The machines we will produce at our new factory in Devens will have a transformational impact by enabling ultra-low-cost green hydrogen at an industrial scale.”
“This federal funding will bolster the cutting edge research, development, and manufacturing happening at hydrogen facilities across the Third District and create good-paying jobs along the way,” said Congresswoman Lori Trahan in her March 13 announcement of the grant.
