Achievements

In 2023 we gained over twenty-five new members bringing FCHEA’s membership to its largest ever with more than one hundred members from across the diverse landscape of this industry. This is a strong endorsement of the growing momentum of the hydrogen and fuel cell industry at large and the importance of speaking to key policymakers and stakeholders with a unified voice. We look forward to continuing to expand FCHEA’s services and programs considering this monumental growth.

FCHEA has long been the only organization in Washington promoting the economic and environmental benefits of the full hydrogen economy. Our longstanding efforts over the years led to tremendous success in 2021 and 2022 with billions of dollars enacted as part of both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Now in 2023, awards from those programs are beginning to be announced, including $7 billion through the selected Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub Awards. We are thrilled to see the growth and opportunities for the states and regions that these hubs will offer, and we look forward to helping support these hubs well into the future.

Another signature hydrogen policy enacted was the crucial Section 45V Credit for Production of Clean Hydrogen. This incredible financial incentive has the potential to supercharge the scale-up of the hydrogen industry. FCHEA has recognized the importance of flexible implementation guidance to assure that proposed projects across the country are given the opportunity to succeed and drive down the costs across the value chain.

Throughout the year, FCHEA has been the leading industry voice supporting this flexibility. From meetings with the Administration and White House, comments and sign-on letters, opinion editorials, media interviews, building stakeholder coalitions with like minded Associations, webinars and speaking opportunities, and a suite of advertising efforts, FCHEA has been at the forefront of advocacy around the 45V credit. As this debate continues to stretch on, FCHEA will continue to be the champion for this industry throughout 2024. More details available at cleanhydrogentoday.org.

In February of 2023 FCHEA once again managed the Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Seminar. This conference was bigger and better than ever with over 1,000 attendees, over 70 exhibitors, and more than 200 presentations and posters showcasing industry efforts and success. Through our connections in Washington, FCHEA was able to bring high-level representation from both the Department of Commerce and Department of Energy to this conference. This year we also obtained the first ever Country Sponsorship from the Republic of Korea, adding a significant international delegation to this event. We are excited to announce that North America’s largest and longest running conference and exposition will be returning in January of 2025!

Beyond 45V, FCHEA continued to demonstrate our leadership as the go to hydrogen organization in D.C. by leading the way on hydrogen and fuel cell appropriations. With our membership, FCHEA also engaged on a wide range of other tax items including supporting the new hydrogen storage credit, extending the fuel cell ITC, expanding the alternative fueling property for hydrogen, encouraging the advanced manufacturing credit, and more. FCHEA staff and members also expanded into a host of new and emerging topics in 2023 including hydrogen permitting, pipeline regulation, PFAS activities, EPA power plant rules, FAA reauthorization, PHMSA reauthorization, and support for standalone bills such as the Coons/Cornyn hydrogen initiative package.

In 2023, through our regular outreach efforts, we expanded the House Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Caucus to twenty-seven members, including 16 Democrats and 11 Republicans. Our Senate Caucus remains at the very substantial level of nine bi-partisan members. FCHEA also hosted a highly successful Congressional briefing on the Hill with well over one hundred hill staff attendees. We also increased our new weekly Congressional Update newsletter specific for Hill Staff to nearly 250 subscribers.

FCHEA has continued to use its online platforms to grow awareness of the hydrogen and fuel cell industry. FCHEA’s regular newsletters go to thousands of stakeholders each month providing comprehensive overviews of industry developments. Our social media presence is the third largest hydrogen organization on LinkedIn attracting over one million impressions in 2023 with more than 40,000 followers. Our blog posts, which are developed with member input, attracted over 130,000 website visits in 2023 as well. Finally, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, an annual event developed by FCHEA which ran for its ninth year in 2023, continued to gain strong domestic and international attention and participation from both the public and private sector.

Supporting international cooperation was a strong theme for 2023 as well. Over the year we expanded our relationships with Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Administration through a wide range of events and webinars. FCHEA continued to support the Global Hydrogen Industrial Association Alliance (GHIAA) to engage with more than twenty international counterpart associations around the world. In addition, FCHEA joined a wide range of other international partnerships including supporting The World Bank Hydrogen for Development Partnership (H4D), signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ukraine Ministry of Energy, engaging with the Denmark Green Hydrogen Alliance, hosting a joint U.S.-France Business-to-Business Workshop, speaking at the U.S.-Germany Hydrogen Cooperation Workshop, and hosting the 20th anniversary of the government-to-government meeting of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE).