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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Recovery Act

Pie chart diagram shows the breakdown of how cost-sharing funds related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from industry participants, totaling $54 million (for a grand total of $96 million), are allocated within the Fuel Cell Technologies Program, updated September 2010. The diagram shows that $18.5 million is allocated to backup power, $9.7 million is allocated to lift truck, $7.6 million is allocated to portable power, $3.4 million is allocated to residential and commercial CHP, and $2.4 million is allocated to auxiliary power research.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) presents opportunities with potential for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, the Recovery Act is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the twenty-first century.

Fuel Cell Project Highlights

Highlights from U.S. Department of Energy's Fuel Cell Recovery Act Projects features fuel cell deployments for backup power and material handling equipment.

Fuel Cell Funding Announcement

On April 15, 2009, DOE announced $41.9 million in Recovery Act funding to accelerate fuel cell commercialization and deployment. With approximately $54 million in cost-share funding from industry participants—for a total of nearly $96 million—the new funding will support immediate deployment of up to 1,000 fuel cell systems in emergency backup power, material handling, and combined heat and power applications. These efforts will improve the potential of fuel cells to provide power in stationary, portable, and specialty vehicle applications; and will cut carbon emissions, create jobs, and broaden our nation's clean energy technology portfolio. For a full list of projects, see the selected awards and for more information about each of the projects, see self-reported project details from Recovery.gov, the portal to all data related to Recovery Act spending.


Projects Awarded Funding

Learn about Recovery Act projects funded for fuel cell market transformation and find recipient reported data about the projects from Recovery.gov.

Map of the United States, including Hawaii, shows the locations where U.S. fuel cell deployments use market transformation and recovery act funding. Separate markers distinguish Market Transformation research sites from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sites. The map shows market transformation research in the states of: Washington, California, Arizona, Utah, Hawaii, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The map shows American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects in California, Texas, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Opportunities

Funding opportunity announcements through the Recovery Act include potential opportunities for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. No funding opportunity announcements are available at this time. Find more information about EERE financial opportunities.

In addition to supporting funding opportunities, the Recovery Act extends and expands incentives to encourage the installation of fuel cells and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. The following table summarizes available tax credits.

Expansion of Tax Credits
Hydrogen Fueling Facility Credit Increases the hydrogen fueling credit from 30% or $30,000 to 30% or $200,000.
Grants for Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits Allows facilities with insufficient tax liability to apply for a grant instead of claiming the investment tax credit or the production tax credit. Only entities that pay taxes are eligible.
Manufacturing Credit Creates 30% credit for investment in property used for manufacturing fuel cells and other technologies
Residential Energy Efficiency Credit Raises ITC dollar cap for residential fuel cells in joint occupancy dwellings to $3,334/kW.

To learn about progress made on Recovery Act projects, read the 2012 Annual Merit Review American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Proceedings.

Learn More

To learn more about the Recovery act, visit the following sites:

To receive updates on Recovery Act activities, subscribe to EERE Progress Alerts and the Financial Opportunities RSS Feed.