Members of the K&L Gates Hydrogen, Power, Tax, and Tax Policy teams speak with Sandi Safro Osborn, Assistant General Counsel of the Edison Electric Institute, about the proposed regulations the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service released on 22 December 2023 concerning the Inflation Reduction Act’s new Section 45V hydrogen production tax credit. The discussion covers details of the new rules and considers their potential impacts on the eligibility of hydrogen facilities to claim the credit. This episode of Hydrogen Rising is an edited audio version of a webinar hosted on 10 January 2023. Click here for the original webinar recording which includes presentation slides.

K&L Gates partner Tariq Fedda sits down with Hydrogen Rising co-hosts David Wochner, Partner at K&L Gates, and Sandra Safro, Associate General Counsel at the Edison Electric Institute, to discuss a range of commercial issues impacting the European hydrogen and energy markets. Tariq talks about the Renewable Energy Directive, green hydrogen, guarantees of origin, and other issues driving the commercial negotiations and contracts he is currently working on to facilitate the development of Europe’s hydrogen economy.   

Elizabeth Crouse, partner and head of the energy tax practice at K&L Gates, discusses the hydrogen-related tax credits and incentives included in the newly-signed-into-law Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  From CI scores, to prevailing wages and apprenticeships, to the Treasury Department’s regulatory implementation process, Elizabeth breaks down what hydrogen industry participants need to know about IRA as they develop and advance new projects. 

Hydrogen Rising co-hosts David Wochner, partner at K&L Gates, and Sandra Safro, Associate General Counsel at the Edison Electric Institute, welcome Frank Wolak, President and CEO of Washington, D.C.,-based Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA) to the podcast. Mr. Wolak has spent his career in the fuel cell and hydrogen sector, previously having served as Senior Vice President at Fuel Cell Energy where he developed some of the most innovative and largest fuel cell technology applications in the world. In this episode, Frank discusses FCHEA’s efforts to advance the deployment of a hydrogen economy, the development and continued evolution of global codes and standards for the safe deployment of hydrogen at scale, and the reasons why he believes hydrogen is a “long-term, evolutionary, and sustainable” solution to our energy and climate challenges. 

As countries around the world continue efforts to reduce emissions, clean hydrogen economies are beginning to emerge.  But, with the impressive number of potential production pathways and possibility of comingling this fungible molecule, how can commercial parties and governments confirm that their hydrogen is “clean”?  Ana Angel, Head of Hinicio North America, joins Hydrogen Rising to talk about what her company is doing to help countries around the world answer this question; the CertifHy Guarantees of Origin program currently operating in the voluntary market in Europe; hydrogen developments in Chile; and Hinicio’s work in the United States, including with the U.S. Department of Energy as it continues to implement its regional clean hydrogen hubs program.

The State of New Mexico is one of the leading states in the country in its efforts to advance the hydrogen economy.  Environment Secretary James Kenney joins Hydrogen Rising to discuss a number of those initiatives, including the State's proposed financing of hydrogen development via public-private partnerships, its partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories on hydrogen best practices, and the Western Inter-State Hydrogen Hub (WISHH) alliance which the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming entered into with the intention of bidding into the US DOE clean hydrogen hub $8B funding opportunity. 

Hydrogen Rising co-hosts David Wochner, partner at K&L Gates, and Sandra Safro, Associate General Counsel at the Edison Electric Institute, speak with the co-founders of Kaizen Clean Energy [link:  www.kaizencleanenergy.com], Eric Smith and Robert Meaney, about Kaizen's role in the energy transition, challenges facing broader deployment of ZEVs in the United States, and how Kaizen's technology can use methanol to more efficiently and economically advance the hydrogen economy.  

Since the Paris Climate Conference, innovations in the development of hydrogen energy have accelerated sharply, with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) now predicting green hydrogen will be competitive in 2030, while other industry experts are now targeting 2025. The recent COP26 climate summit has further boosted global investment in hydrogen, with companies across a range of sectors recognizing the potential and taking an active role in the development of the sector.

K&L Gates partners James Douglass in London, David Wochner in Washington, D.C., Kelly Davies in Sydney, Melanie Bruneau in Brussels, and Annette Mutschler-Siebert in Berlin, all members of our Hydrogen practice, held a town hall on 24 March 2022 to discuss global hydrogen policy and regulatory developments with moderator Sandra Safro, Associate General Counsel at the Edison Electric Institute, and co-host of Hydrogen Rising.