Guidehouse
Lisa Frantzis is a partner in Guidehouse’s Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure segment, responsible for decarbonization go-to-market initiatives such as clean hydrogen, e-mobility, and renewable energy solutions. Throughout her forty years of consulting, she has determined clean energy integration options for utility companies; identified energy program options for international government agencies; developed business strategies for clean energy manufacturers; and conducted due diligence for financial firms. She leads Guidehouse’s Hydrogen Consortium, Building the Clean Hydrogen Economy, with more than twenty companies working together to launch innovative pilot projects/hubs that use clean hydrogen to decarbonize heavy transport and increase renewables integration in the U.S.
Rich Shandross is an associate principal in the Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure segment, working in the energy efficiency policy and analysis group. He brings more than twenty-five years of engineering, project management, and research and development experience in industry, consulting, government, and academia. Rich supports clients in the areas of energy efficiency, technology and market evaluation, and emerging technologies.
There has been tremendous interest in hydrogen in recent years, with the added support from the U.S. Department of Energy, along with public and private sector decarbonization targets. The Hydrogen Shot initiative targets an eighty percent reduction from today's cost of clean hydrogen, ultimately aspiring for one dollar per kilogram.
The recent Inflation Reduction Act incentives, such as production tax credits and increased Section 45Q credits for carbon sequestration — including direct pay credits for five years and a twelve-year credit duration — will help to bridge the cost gap and make clean hydrogen more cost-competitive.
A key commercial liftoff is the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides eight billion dollars in support for U.S. regional hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs). The U.S. DOE received seventy-nine concept papers from H2Hub developers, issuing thirty-three encouraged responses to submit formal applications by April 7, 2023.
Six to ten of those are expected to be awarded up to one and a quarter billion each to support a network of companies and other organizations, working together along the full hydrogen value chain (hydrogen production, offtake, and infrastructure such as pipelines and fueling stations).