Jan 19 2006
Just weeks after North Dakota lawmakers approved the Centers of Excellence awards for research and job initiatives at universities around the state, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota announced today its contracts related to hydrogen technologies are expected to total more than $20 million within the next few months.
The EERC was awarded $2.5 million as part of the Centers of Excellence program to build a facility for its National Center for Hydrogen Technology (NCHT). The Centers of Excellence application required a 2-to-1 match of funds from nonstate sources and a strong commitment from the private sector— the EERC's proposal offered a 4-to-1 match immediately and a projected 20-to-1 match over the next 5 years. Within the near future, the EERC will achieve close to a 10-to-1 match, with 60% of those funds derived from cash contracts with private industry sources. The EERC currently has hydrogen projects with over 15 U.S. and international private sector partners.
“The opportunities that Senator Byron Dorgan’s support and the state’s support of the Centers of Excellence program have brought to the EERC and North Dakota are absolutely phenomenal,” said EERC Director Gerald Groenewold. “Numerous corporate partners have already verbally committed to bringing manufacturing and business opportunities to the Grand Forks area as our projects develop.”
That will lead to more than 100 new private sector and private sector-equivalent jobs within the next 2 to 5 years locally and numerous others across the state, as well as spin-off companies spanning between the Minnesota and Montana borders.
Since submission of the original proposal to the Centers of Excellence Commission, the cash value of existing hydrogen projects at the EERC has grown from $8 million to more than $10 million. An additional $13 million of near-term opportunities are in discussion with a variety of sponsors.
Corporate and federal partners involved in the anticipated new hydrogen projects include the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); Siemens Power Generation, Inc.; Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.; Schunk-INEX; ePower Synergies, Inc.; Nuvera, and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
“These opportunities are just the beginning,” said Groenewold. “The EERC has been developing hydrogen technologies for over 50 years. Current economic, political, and energy security drivers are creating a very strong market for the development of hydrogen technologies that will last for decades.”
The EERC was designated as the National Center for Hydrogen Technology in November 2004 by the U.S. Department of Energy in recognition of over 50 years of hydrogen research involving fossil fuels and renewable energy.
For more information, visit http://www.undeerc.org.