On September 12, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously passed its version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill. The legislation now moves to the full Senate chamber for consideration.
Within the $2.8 billion appropriations to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the Committee report recommends $160 million for the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Program run by the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO). This is an increase of $40 million over enacted appropriations for FY 2019 and $116 million more than the FY 2020 Trump Administration request. The Committee directs EERE to maintain a diverse Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies program that focuses on early, medium, and late-stage research, development and technology acceleration.
Of the $160 million, the Committee report directs:
$49 million for Hydrogen Fuel Research and Development activities;
$3 million for Systems Analysis activities;
$26 million for Hydrogen Infrastructure Research and Development with emphasis on large-scale hydrogen production;
$35 million for Technology Acceleration activities, including funding to support fuel cell and hydrogen technical and workforce development and training programs; and
$10 million for Safety, Codes, and Standards activities.
In addition, the Committee encourages the Secretary of Energy to work with the Secretary of Transportation and industry on coordinating efforts to deploy hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
Finally, the Committee report recommends continued funding of $30 million for the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Program within DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy. This is in line with the past five years of appropriations, and the Committee encourages DOE to work with industry in developing a "rational approach to advancing SOFC research and development."
