The U.S. Treasury Division intends to launch steerage on how one can entry tax credit for hydrogen production below the 2022 Inflation Discount Act later this week, in line with two sources conversant in the matter.
The long-awaited steerage will present a pathway for hydrogen produced using nuclear power to entry the credit, the sources advised Reuters, although the small print of that plan weren’t instantly clear.
The query of whether or not present nuclear crops ought to be eligible for the hydrogen subsidy has been a significant sticking level for the rule, with environmentalists saying that only hydrogen produced with new clean energy sources ought to be granted the perks.
One of many sources mentioned the steerage would probably be launched on Friday.
A spokesperson mentioned the Treasury Division was working to finalize the steerage and that the company was contemplating numerous requests associated to the principles.
“Finalizing guidelines that can assist scale the clear hydrogen business whereas implementing the environmental safeguards established within the regulation stays a high precedence for Treasury,” mentioned spokesperson Michael Martinez. “In that course of, we’re fastidiously contemplating the quite a few feedback we’ve got acquired on the proposed laws.”
In December 2023, the Treasury Division unveiled its proposed guidelines governing how power corporations would qualify for the credit below the act.
In its draft steerage, the company mentioned the credit score would vary from 60 cents to $3 per kilogram and be based mostly on the life-cycle greenhouse fuel emissions from the power-generating supply utilized in hydrogen manufacturing.
The nation’s producers of nuclear energy, which is nearly carbon free, have since lobbied the Biden administration to incorporate present reactors in this system.
The extent of any inclusion of nuclear energy within the remaining guidelines will decide whether or not it’s commercially viable to spend money on hydrogen manufacturing, one supply mentioned.
Some attainable tips might embody a restrict on the variety of credit-qualifying megawatts allowed from present nuclear energy crops utilized in hydrogen manufacturing, one supply mentioned.
Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Laila Kearney and Nichola Groom; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Enhancing by Leslie Adler.