Hydrogen solution deployments in the DMV deliver initial benefits by 2030, growing significantly through 2050 and beyond.

The DMV region has a unique opportunity to develop a local hydrogen economy that connects and supports a national hydrogen ecosystem.

The DMV is strategically located at the heart of the mid-Atlantic and at the crossroads of the Atlantic seaboard, positioning the region to integrate with existing and future hydrogen systems in the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest. I-95 and I-81 are two of the most trafficked trucking routes in the country, with both corridors expected to support greater than 8,500 trucks per day on average by 2040.²¹ The region also has major port operations in Baltimore, Richmond, and Norfolk, allowing for continued hydrogen transport and trade growth with other regions.

The DMV region has existing and growing potential for clean hydrogen demand and production.

The DMV is home to over 15 million residents²² and is the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the nation.²³ The building heat (residential and commercial) and transportation (ground mobility and aviation) sectors represent the most concentrated energy uses in the region.

The Greenprint examines the largest energy-consuming sectors in the region and identifies medium-duty and heavy-duty transport, building heat, and aviation as the sectors with the best opportunities for hydrogen use by 2030. The high concentration of federal facilities, data centers, and major ports and airports in the region present additional opportunities for hydrogen.

The DMV has an abundant and growing non-CO₂ emitting electric generation sector, which can be leveraged to produce hydrogen in the future. Nuclear generation supplies over 35% of the electricity to the region²⁴ and renewable generation in the DMV is forecasted to increase significantly. These zero-emission generation assets provide the potential to power the hydrogen economy in the DMV.

The DMV region’s hydrogen outlook benefits from off-taker diversity and requires coordinated action.

Development at scale requires collaboration across the hydrogen value chain to plan, finance, and develop projects that match hydrogen supply with a diversity of demand and the infrastructure to support the delivery and storage of hydrogen. Given the region's broad and diverse hydrogen use cases, participants in a future ecosystem will need to work together to achieve scale.

The Greenprint confirms that the metropolitan areas of the District, Baltimore, and Richmond are the best-suited locations for initial investment. These concentrated demand areas have a high potential for early adoption in the key use cases identified (medium- and heavy-duty trucking, building heat, and aviation). The geographical proximity of use cases within these areas offers opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration that optimizes and scales infrastructure investments. Hydrogen distribution and storage infrastructure can also be developed to leverage synergies across industries to scale the hydrogen ecosystem. At scale, the DMV can establish a hydrogen network that connects the transportation sector, airports, maritime ports, other commercial and industrial consumers, and the natural gas system.

Achieving the scale needed to realize the benefits of a sustainable hydrogen economy requires commitment and investment from federal, state, and local authorities, private industry, and community-based organizations. The DMV must collectively plan and deliver the investments necessary to develop an interconnected hydrogen ecosystem that links hydrogen producers and endusers with the supporting distribution and storage infrastructure required to provide economies of scale.