Three Iowa projects would be part of proposed hydrogen hub
Ideal Energy, based in Des Moines and Fairfield, is only company in Eastern Iowa
 

May 04, 2023
By Erin Jordan

Emet Blood (background), Josh Ross and Jon Buzan install solar panels on the roof of Stuff Etc. on Blairs Ferry Road NE in Cedar Rapids on Aug. 16, 2016. Ideal Energy Solar was installing the 601-panel array on the Cedar Rapids store before installing another one on the Stuff Etc. store in Coralville. Ideal Energy, based in Des Moines and Fairfield, plans to create a “hub-and-spoke network” clean hydrogen fuel dispensing stations for Iowa freight trucks. (The Gazette)

Three Iowa energy projects — and their communities — stand to benefit from a proposed green hydrogen hub seeking $1 billion in federal money.

The Nebraska Public Power District, a publicly owned state utility, would take the lead in a collaboration among Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri, but five projects — two in Nebraska and three in Iowa — would “produce and consume clean hydrogen” as part of the Mid-Continent Clean Hydrogen Hub, or MCH2.

“MCH2 aims to bring over $4 billion in new economic development to the region through clean energy manufacturing while creating opportunities for skilled training and ensuring long-term, well-paying employment,” according to a summary of the grant application submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy earlier this month.

The Iowa projects are:

Verbio, a German-owned firm, has a renewable natural gas and ethanol plant in Nevada that runs on crop residue, including corncobs and stalks. The plant already is producing renewable hydrogen and is poised to ramp up, the summary states.
Ideal Energy, based in Des Moines and Fairfield, plans to create a “hub-and-spoke network” clean hydrogen fuel dispensing stations for Iowa freight trucks.
Greenfield Nitrogen is building a clean hydrogen and ammonia facility in Garner, in north-central Iowa.
The largest project of the five is Monolith, located near Hallam, in eastern Nebraska, which already uses renewable energy to break down methane into hydrogen and carbon. A new company called Meadowlark in Gothenburg, Neb., would serve as a “local access source for clean fertilizer.”

It’s unclear what role Missouri will play in the hydrogen hub. The state’s name is mentioned only once in the three-page summary written by the Nebraska Public Power District. The Iowa Economic Development Authority provided the abstract in response to a Gazette request for the full application.

Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri are competing against other regional proposals to share $7 billion available to establish six to 10 green hydrogen hubs as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Initially, 79 applicants asked the federal government for permission to apply for the federal funding, Iowa Finance Authority and Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham told the Finance Authority board earlier this month. The Energy Department told 33 of those applicants to submit a full application, she said.

The agency is expected to make funding decisions by November.

Clean hydrogen is made with water, an electrolyzer and a renewable power source, such as a wind or solar farm. No greenhouse gas emissions come from the process.

MCH2 leaders would like to generate 430 metric tons of hydrogen a day.

“Secondly, MCH2 will provide agricultural and transportation applications from hydrogen including producing clean ammonia and fertilizers and hydrogen fuels for trucks, rail, and shipping,” the Nebraska Public Power District reports.

The summary notes the projects align with interstate highway systems including I-80, I-35, I-70 and I-29.

“The three states in the hub are among the largest agricultural producers in the USA, creating vast opportunity for both distribution and transportation-related consumption of hydrogen fuels,” the summary said.

Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com