The United States Department of Energy (DoE) has closed a $504 million loan guarantee to the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Utah.
DoE's latest announcement marks the first loan guarantee for a new clean energy technology project from DOE's Loan Programs Office (LPO) in almost a decade (since 2014). The latest financial infusion will help in the construction of the largest clean hydrogen storage facility in the world, capable of providing long-term low-cost, seasonal energy storage, furthering grid stability.
"Since President Biden's first day in office, DOE has made it a priority to leverage the potential of the Loan Programs Office to fund emerging technologies that will deploy clean and reliable energy to Americans," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
"Accelerating the commercial deployment of clean hydrogen as a zero-emission, long-term energy storage solution is the first step in harnessing its potential to decarbonize our economy, create good paying clean energy jobs and enable more renewables to be added to the grid."
Earlier this year, the LPO office made a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee toward Advanced Clean Energy Storage which, it noted would be the first of its kind, to a clean hydrogen company.
The loan guarantee extended to the facility in Delta, Utah, will combine 220 megawatts of alkaline electrolysis with two massive 4.5 million barrel salt caverns to store clean hydrogen. DoE confirmed that the Advanced Clean Energy Storage will capture excess renewable energy when it is most abundant, store it as hydrogen, then deploy it as fuel for the Intermountain Power Agency's (IPA) IPP Renewed Project -- hydrogen-capable gas turbine combined cycle power plant that intends to incrementally be fueled by 100% clean hydrogen by 2045.
"I'm pleased to see DOE support Utah's efforts to become a world leader in hydrogen," said U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (UT).
"This is not only a win for Millard County and Utah, but it is also an important step toward developing new energy technologies as we utilize an 'all of the above' approach to meet our energy demands."
With the closing of the Utah loan guarantee, the LPO has $2.5 billion in remaining loan guarantee authority for the Innovative Clean Energy projects.
U.S. President Joe Biden has set the target of achieving a clean grid by 2035 and reaching economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050, long-duration energy storage, including hydrogen, is expected to play a critical role in advancing this transition.
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