ARCH2 hydrogen hub leaders celebrate its launch with ribbon cutting at new Morgantown office

MORGANTOWN – The long-awaited Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub – ARCH2 – officially launched Wednesday afternoon, with a ribbon cutting in front of its Morgantown headquarters inside the WVU Innovation Corp. building.

Leaders from the public and private sectors and academia who helped create the hub and bring it here gathered to celebrate the achievement.

They repeatedly referred to hydrogen as the energy of the future. ARCH2 is one of seven hubs across the nation.

ARCH2 defines itself “a collaborative initiative between the United States Department of Energy, private industry, state and local governments, academic and technology institutions, non-profit organizations and community groups working together to build a safe and sustainable clean hydrogen ecosystem in Appalachia. With a project portfolio that spans West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, ARCH2 will leverage the region’s vast resources for diverse clean hydrogen production, storage, delivery, and end-use applications.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – led by Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, allotted $8 billion for the hubs. ARCH2 will be eligible for up to $925 million. The Department of Energy released the first $30 million in July.

WVU and Marshall University both played leading roles in bringing the hub to Morgantown. Marshall’s Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Toney Stroud said, “We will now lead the way for a prospersous and sustainable future.”

Stroud said Marshall President Brad Smith always says the two most important letters in West Virginia are “WE.” Stoud riffed on that: “We are coming together as a state, as a people, as a government, to achieve greatness in this state.”

The $925 million investment will unlock a potential $6 billion in economic benefits and 20,000 jobs.

WVU President Gordon Gee thanked all the leaders who brought the hub to reality, and Viatris for selling the former Mylan plant – now the Innovation Corp. HQ – to WVU for $1.

West Virginia has abundant energy sources, he said, including hydrogen. “Now we have an opportunity to capitalize on it and make sure that our future is a West Virginia future for the world.”

James Haug is the DOE’s associate director for hydrogen hubs. “These are the largest cooperative agreements in the Department of Energy’s history,” he said. “This Appalachian hub and ARCH2 is of strategic importance to the United States.”

That’s because the U.S. will be the worlds’ leading producer of clean hydrogen and probably the leading exporter, he said. For example, Europe is driving toward a hydrogen economy and will need the supply from ARCH2.

Battelle, the world’s largest independent nonprofit science and technology organization, was part of the team that established ARCH2 and is playing a leading role in its management.

Battelle’s Don LaMonaca emceed. “You’d be hard pressed to find a program that aligns better with our mission,” he said. ARCH2 provides for advanced technology, decarbonizing the environment, and economic and jobs benefits to disadvantaged communities.

Lou Von Thaer, Battelle president and CEO, said, “This has been a lot of fun – not every day, but much of it – to watch country, the state, the contractor community come together for a common cause for a new fuel and to do something that really matters.”

Battelle gets involved in big projects, he said, and is involved in other hubs. “We pick carefully what we want to work on because we want to do things that matter to the world, and I can’t think of a better program than this one that we’re starting on today.”

West Virginia, he said, has strong existing infrastructure and industrial base, ample supply of natural gas to power the hub and geology to store produced CO2 back into the ground, and a strong workforce.

Nicholas Preservati directs West Virginia’s Energy Office and is a member of the ARCH2 executive committee and chairs the advisory board.

The state’s energy policy, he said is built on the acronym “REAL energy,” meaning reliable, efficient, affordable and locally produced. “We want to be the state that powers the nation.” We already lead in coal and natural gas and have to potential to lead in hydrogen, and to produce it to benefit West Virginia with manufacturing jobs. “That’s what’s going to lift West Virginia up to its rightful place.”

Capito mentioned a tax credit they built into the bipartisan infrastructure law to incentivize the private sector to make the substantial investments to actually build the ecosystem. West Virginia’s hydrogen production will be powered by natural gas, and the credit was created with that in mind.

But the IRS, she said, has chosen to reinterpret and rewrite the credit to favor renewable sources, defying the intent of the legislation – and potentially discouraging investment.

She encouraged private sector attendees, “We’ve been beating the bushes here to make sure that we get the maximum amount of tax credit.”

Manchin mentioned the credit too, telling the attendees that if the IRS revision of the credit affects their bottom line, they should sue the IRS, and the senators will write the amicus brief, and they win the suit.

He talked about what led to the formation of the hub coalition and the success in bringing the Appalachian hub to West Virginia. “Seeing this all come to fruition has been tremendous for me.”

The other six hubs are: Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2), Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey; California Hydrogen Hub – Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES); Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub (HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub), Texas; Heartland Hydrogen Hub, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota; Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2), Illinois, Indiana, Michigan; and Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNW H2), Washington, Oregon, Montana.