The Gulf Coast port is in the running for up to $1 billion available under President Joe Biden's 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to create a regional hub to produce hydrogen, a low-emissions fuel made by electrolyzing water that can help decarbonize heavy-emitting industries and transportation.
Producing hydrogen requires enormous amounts of fresh water in a world increasingly affected by climate-driven drought. The Biden administration is offering companies up to $100 billion in tax credits and regions up to $7 billion in grants to build out hydrogen hubs to help reach a target of producing 50 million metric tons of clean hydrogen fuel by 2050.
The city is contracted to supply up to 25 million gallons of water per day to major industrial users ExxonMobil and Saudi Arabia's Basic Industries Corporation, Zanoni said, and anticipates hosting at least a half dozen green hydrogen producers at the hub, each which would need around 3 to 4 million gallons of fresh water per day.
In March, the EPA stepped in with a $170 million loan to offset the price spikes for local consumers.