II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2200 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a research, development, 

demonstration, and deployment program to improve the efficiency, increase the durability, and reduce the cost of producing hydrogen using 

electrolyzers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2021 

Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a research, 

development, demonstration, and deployment program to 

improve the efficiency, increase the durability, and reduce 

the cost of producing hydrogen using electrolyzers, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advancing the Clean 

5 Hydrogen Future Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to enhance the leadership role of the United 

2 States in the widespread use of renewable energy 

3 and clean energy technologies; 

4 (2) to reduce greenhouse emissions in the 

5 United States by increasing the supply of economical 

6 hydrogen for use in transportation, industrial, and 

7 power-generation applications; 

8 (3) to support existing electrolyzer research, de9 velopment, and demonstration efforts of the Depart10 ment, including the H2NEW consortium of National 

11 Laboratories and the hydrogen and fuel cell commu12 nity, which was established by the Office of Hydro13 gen and Fuel Cell Technologies of the Department 

14 and focuses on making large-scale electrolyzers more 

15 durable, efficient, and affordable; and 

16 (4) to promote job creation in the United States 

17 through the manufacturing of advanced clean energy 

18 technologies, including through the manufacturing of 

19 electrolyzers and associated systems. 

20 SEC. 3. HYDROGEN ELECTROLYSIS RESEARCH, DEVELOP21 MENT, DEMONSTRATION, AND DEPLOYMENT 

22 PROGRAM. 

23 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

24 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

25 means the Department of Energy. 


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1 (2) ELECTROLYSIS.—The term ‘‘electrolysis’’ 

2 means a process that uses electricity to split water 

3 into hydrogen and oxygen. 

4 (3) ELECTROLYZER.—The term ‘‘electrolyzer’’ 

5 means a system that produces hydrogen using elec6 trolysis. 

7 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti8 ty’’ means— 

9 (A) an institution of higher education; 

10 (B) a nongovernmental organization; 

11 (C) a National Laboratory; 

12 (D) a federally recognized Tribal govern13 ment or Tribal organization; 

14 (E) a private entity; and 

15 (F) a partnership or consortium of 2 or 

16 more entities described in subparagraphs (A) 

17 through (E). 

18 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

19 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

20 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

21 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

22 (6) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na23 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 

24 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

25 U.S.C. 15801). 


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1 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

2 the program established under subsection (b). 

3 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Energy. 

5 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es7 tablish a research, development, demonstration, and de8 ployment program to improve the efficiency, increase the 

9 durability, and reduce the cost of producing hydrogen 

10 using electrolyzers. 

11 (c) COORDINATION.—In establishing and carrying 

12 out the program, the Secretary shall— 

13 (1) coordinate activities carried out under this 

14 section with— 

15 (A) activities carried out under other rel16 evant programs of the Department, including 

17 activities carried out by the National Labora18 tories; and 

19 (B) activities carried out by other relevant 

20 Federal agencies; 

21 (2) effectively manage crosscutting research pri22 orities across relevant programs of the Department, 

23 including programs carried out by the National Lab24 oratories; and 


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1 (3) coordinate with the heads of other relevant 

2 Federal agencies to ensure the effective management 

3 of crosscutting research priorities shared by the De4 partment and those agencies. 

5 (d) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out the program, 

6 the Secretary shall collaborate with— 

7 (1) industry; 

8 (2) the National Laboratories; 

9 (3) other relevant Federal agencies; 

10 (4) relevant State agencies; 

11 (5) institutions of higher education; and 

12 (6) international bodies with relevant scientific 

13 and technical expertise. 

14 (e) GOAL.—The goal of the program is to reduce the 

15 cost of hydrogen produced using electrolyzers to less than 

16 $2 per kilogram of hydrogen by 2026. 

17 (f) DURATION.—The program shall have a duration 

18 of 5 years. 

19 (g) FOCUS.—The program shall focus on research re20 lating to, and the development, demonstration, and deploy21 ment of— 

22 (1) low-temperature electrolyzers, including liq23 uid-alkaline electrolyzers, membrane-based 

24 electrolyzers, and other advanced electrolyzers, capa25 ble of converting intermittent sources of electric 


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1 power to hydrogen with enhanced efficiency and du2 rability; 

3 (2) high-temperature electrolyzers that combine 

4 electricity and heat to improve the efficiency of hy5 drogen production; 

6 (3) advanced reversible fuel cells that combine 

7 the functionality of an electrolyzer and a fuel cell; 

8 (4) new highly active, selective, and durable 

9 electrolyzer catalysts and electro-catalysts that— 

10 (A) greatly reduce or eliminate the need 

11 for platinum group metals; and 

12 (B) enable electrolysis of complex mixtures 

13 with impurities, including seawater; 

14 (5) modular electrolyzers for distributed energy 

15 systems and the bulk-power system (as defined in 

16 section 215(a) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

17 824o(a))); 

18 (6) low-cost membranes or electrolytes and sep19 aration materials that are durable in the presence of 

20 impurities or seawater; 

21 (7) improved component design and material in22 tegration, including with respect to electrodes, po23 rous transport layers and bipolar plates, and bal24 ance-of-system components, to allow for scale-up and 


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1 domestic manufacturing of electrolyzers at a high 

2 volume; 

3 (8) hydrogen storage technologies; 

4 (9) technologies that integrate hydrogen pro5 duction with— 

6 (A) hydrogen compression and drying tech7 nologies; 

8 (B) hydrogen storage; and 

9 (C) transportation or stationary systems; 

10 and 

11 (10) integrated systems that combine hydrogen 

12 production with renewable power generation tech13 nologies, including hybrid systems with hydrogen 

14 storage. 

15 (h) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, COOPERATIVE AGREE16 MENTS, AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 

17 (1) GRANTS.—In carrying out the program, the 

18 Secretary shall award grants, on a competitive basis, 

19 to eligible entities for projects that the Secretary de20 termines would provide the greatest progress toward 

21 achieving the goal of the program described in sub22 section (e). 

23 (2) CONTRACTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREE24 MENTS.—In carrying out the program, the Secretary 

25 may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements 


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1 with eligible entities and Federal agencies for 

2 projects that the Secretary determines would further 

3 the purpose of the program described in subsection 

4 (b). 

5 (3) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—In sup6 porting technologies developed under the program, 

7 the Secretary shall fund demonstration projects— 

8 (A) to demonstrate technologies that 

9 produce hydrogen using electrolysis; and 

10 (B) to validate information on the cost, ef11 ficiency, durability, and feasibility of commer12 cial deployment of the technologies described in 

13 subparagraph (A). 

14 (4) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity desiring 

15 to receive a grant under paragraph (1), to enter into 

16 a contract or cooperative agreement under para17 graph (2), or to receive funding for a demonstration 

18 project under paragraph (3) shall submit to the Sec19 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

20 and containing such information as the Secretary 

21 may require. 

22 (5) COST SHARING.—In awarding grants, enter23 ing into contracts and cooperative agreements, and 

24 funding demonstration projects under this section, 

25 the Secretary shall require cost sharing in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200

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1 ance with section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 

2 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352). 

3 (i) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit 

5 to Congress 2 reports describing, as of the date of 

6 the applicable report— 

7 (A) the activities carried out by the Sec8 retary under this section; and 

9 (B) any progress made toward achieving 

10 the goal of the program described in subsection 

11 (e). 

12 (2) TIMING OF SUBMISSIONS.—The Secretary 

13 shall submit the reports described in paragraph (1) 

14 by— 

15 (A) in the case of the first report, not later 

16 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

17 Act; and 

18 (B) in the case of the second report, not 

19 later than 6 years after that date of enactment. 

20 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

22 out the program $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

23 2022 through 2026, to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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