Tennessee will further ingrain itself in the Battery Belt and help develop a Southeast Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (H2Hubs) thanks to federal investments in clean energy.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will fund two major initiatives here to push battery manufacturing for electric cars and more and make hydrogen power more accessible for consumers and businesses.
Tennessee is already well established in the emerging Battery Belt, areas in the South and Midwest expected to get economic jolts from producing power cells for electric cars, homes, and power grids. Ford’s Blue Oval City will house onsite battery maker SK On to make the lithium-ion battery cells for Ford’s F-150 Lightning trucks. GM and LG Energy will build batteries in Spring Hill. Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant began assembling its all-electric ID.4 in July.
The IIJA contains $2.8 billion to support new and expanded facilities to process the raw materials (like lithium and graphite) for battery production. The bill also supports facilities to build battery components and find ways to recycle battery components.
“Producing advanced batteries and components here at home will accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels to meet the strong demand for electric vehicles, creating more good-paying jobs across the country,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said when the funds were announced in October.
Three Tennessee firms were awarded more than a collective $491 million from the government with private investment valued at a total of over $1.6 billion. Microvast, Novonix Anode Materials, and Piedmont Lithium — all in Middle or East Tennessee — won federal investment.
The funds were awarded as President Joe Biden launched his American Battery Material Initiative. It aims to accelerate the development of the country’s battery supply chain.
The Tennessee Valley Authority announced Thursday it joined with other Southeastern utilities to respond to the federal government’s $8 billion effort to develop H2Hubs.
“Clean hydrogen hubs will create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier that can deliver or store tremendous amounts of energy,” reads a statement from the U.S. Department of Energy about the program.
In 2003, then-President George W. Bush touted the future of the “hydrogen economy.” Some environmentalists claim the speech was a greenwashing dodge to avoid tightening fuel economy standards. The tech — hydrogen fuel cells — existed but the national infrastructure to deliver power for them did not. Not a finger, it seemed, was lifted in the country to forge Bush’s hydrogen economy.
California is, really, the only state with anything resembling real hydrogen infrastructure, with 62 retail hydrogen refueling stations open. The state has $10 billion in funding available to grow its hydrogen economy and plans, also, to compete for one of the federal H2Hub grants.
Making hydrogen often (but not always) includes the use of fossil fuels, most commonly natural gas. However, when consumed in a fuel cell, hydrogen produces only water. This makes it attractive to utilities and others with de-carbonization goals.
“Hydrogen will be crucial for accelerating the transition to clean power so we can meet the demand for low-carbon energy throughout our region and across the country,” Dr. Joe Hoagland, vice president, TVA Innovation & Research said in a statement.
TVA’s H2Hub coalition includes Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Louisville Gas & Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company (LG&E and KU), and Southern Company, along with science and tech consultants Battelle.