The Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2) and the Midwest Hydrogen Corridor Consortium (MHCC) have joined together as a single regional coalition to apply for U.S. Department of Energy H2Hubs funding for development of a Midwest hydrogen hub.
This partnership aims to officially bring together the original MHCC entities, including bp, Applied Research Institute (ARI), BorgWarner, Cummins Inc., Energy Systems Network, NiSource, and Rolls-Royce, into the growing MachH2 coalition.
Members of the alliance are combining their resources and expertise with a goal to leverage existing clean energy resources and transportation infrastructure to establish hydrogen production and distribution, as well as advance hydrogen technology and infrastructure in collaboration with national labs, universities, and research and technology institutions.
The expanded coalition aims to obtain federal funding to advance projects that would enable production and use of clean hydrogen in the Midwest, helping support decarbonization, manufacturing and community economic benefits in the region.
“bp continues to strengthen its ties to Indiana, and we are excited about the expanded Midwest consortium’s potential to compete for Department of Energy funding as we work to accelerate the energy transition,” says Tomeka McLeod, VP of Hydrogen & CCS at bp. “This broader coalition brings exceptional capabilities to support the Midwest economy and the net zero ambitions of bp and the US government.”
The Indiana-led MHCC has strong backing from the Indiana state government, and MachH2 has the support of the Michigan and Illinois state governments. The pairing of these coalitions will help create a mobility-corridor linkage across Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, which will help drive efficiency and create an opportunity to scale to neighboring states.
Clean hydrogen hub applications are due to the Department of Energy by April 7.
