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Energy & Infrastructure

Harnessing hydrogen hubs

As one of the largest energy infrastructure providers in the United States, Williams is committed to leveraging its expertise and assets to advance the potential development of a hydrogen energy economy. Williams has partnered with two regional hydrogen hubs – one in the Pacific Northwest and the other in Appalachia – which the U.S. Department of Energy recently selected for investment and development.

“Williams is excited to play a key part in these hydrogen hubs and I congratulate our teams for their ingenuity and expertise in leveraging natural gas infrastructure to advance the emerging hydrogen energy space,” said Chad Zamarin, Executive Vice President for Corporate Strategic Development at Williams.

The DOE received over 79 applications for the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program, 33 of which were encouraged to make full applications, and seven of which were chosen to receive $7 billion in funding. Williams is proud to be part of two of the seven hubs selected: The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub and the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub.

“Our strategy is centered upon the belief that we can only achieve the ambitions of scaling new energy technologies through leveraging our existing energy ecosystem,” said Zamarin. “Our natural gas infrastructure is a national treasure and must serve as a springboard for developing the energy solutions of the future.”

The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub is focused on reducing the emissions of hard-to-abate sectors such as transportation, energy storage, ports, agriculture and industrial operations. Williams was named as a sub-recipient of DOE funding and plans to build hydrogen pipelines to safely and reliably transport clean hydrogen to advance the decarbonization of key energy consumers.

The Appalachian Clean Hydrogen Hub intends to leverage the region’s ample access to low-cost natural gas to produce low-cost clean hydrogen and permanently and safely store associated carbon emissions. The hub will include the development of hydrogen pipelines, multiple hydrogen fueling stations, and permanent CO2 storage to drive down the cost of hydrogen distribution and storage. As part of the DOE program, Williams will leverage its footprint and partnership opportunities in the region where Williams has a large natural gas gathering, processing and transportation presence.

The next step is for the two hubs to conduct award negotiations with the DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.