Dive Brief: The U.S. has 9.8 million metric tons of annual blue hydrogen production capacity in development — enough to power more than 18 million homes and employ 62,200 people, according to a report by the Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions Forum, a right-leaning advocacy energy group in Washington D.C. Much of this capacity was prompted by the creation of the 45V tax credit for low-carbon hydrogen production, according to Heather Reams, president of the CRES Forum. Blue hydrogen is derived from natural gas. Ending the hydrogen tax credit prematurely, as currently proposed by a budget reconciliation bill now before the House Rules Committee, could push the industry overseas and delay the decarbonization of sectors like heavy duty shipping, Reams said. Dive Insight: The late release of the IRS’s guidance on the 45V clean hydrogen production tax credit has slowed the buildout of hydrogen production capacity in the U.S. and likely made the tax credit a harder sell to House Republicans. But credit’s limited track record doesn’t mean that it lacks economic value, according to the CRES Forum. A new report by the CRES Forum estimates that the millions of tons of blue hydrogen production capacity that is in development throughout the U.S. could support 62,200 jobs by the time they came online, while generating $1 billion in federal tax revenue and $400 million in state and local tax revenue. These figures include jobs created directly through hydrogen plant operations as well as new natural gas jobs and other positions in chemical and manufacturing supply chains that would be needed to support blue hydrogen production, according to the report. Projects that plan to use water and electricity to make hydrogen, called green hydrogen, would likely also be heavily impacted by the tax credit repeal, though CRES Forum did not have specific

Dive Brief: The Tennessee Valley Authority on Tuesday became the first American utility to submit a small modular reactor construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The application is a key step in TVA’s plan to build a 300-MW SMR by 2032 at its 1,200-acre Clinch River Nuclear site in Tennessee. Non-nuclear construction could begin next January “or sooner” as the NRC works through an expected two years of review and six months of public hearings, TVA spokesperson Scott Fiedler said in an email. TVA aims to begin nuclear construction at Clinch River in late 2028 and commission the new power plant by the end of 2032, “subject to change based on regulatory approval and other factors,” it says. Dive Insight: In a statement hailing “a significant milestone for TVA, our region and our nation,” TVA President and CEO Don Moul said the application would accelerate “the development of new nuclear technology, its supply chain and delivery model to unleash American energy.”  TVA says it will be the first U.S. utility to deploy GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 boiling water SMR. The design borrows from larger boiling water reactors developed by GE since the 1960s, but occupies a significantly smaller footprint and incorporates passive safety features that nuclear experts say reduce the risk of safety events.  Advanced nuclear reactors like the BWRX-300 will help power producers deliver the energy needed to support artificial intelligence, quantum computing and advanced manufacturing industries, TVA said in a news release announcing the application. In 2023, TVA said it would form a working group with GE Hitachi, Ontario Power Generation and Synthos Green Energy to develop a standard design for the BWRX-300 and its modular components. The $400 million effort aimed to ready the reactor for deployment in the U.S., Canada, Poland and other countries, TVA

TotalEnergies SE has committed to buying two million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 20 years from the pending Ksi Lisims LNG project in British Columbia. Concurrently the French integrated energy company also agreed to acquire a 5 percent stake in Western LNG LLC, one of the partners advancing the project and the future operator. “This acquisition grants TotalEnergies the option to increase its stake in Western LNG and/or take a direct stake in the plant up to approximately 10 percent when the final investment decision is made”, TotalEnergies said in an online statement. With a planned capacity of 12 MMtpa, the project is expected to become operational 2029. It is undergoing environmental assessment and preliminary engineering. Construction could start this year, Ksi Lisims LNG LP, a partnership between the Nisga’a nation, Rockies LNG Partners and Western LNG, says on its website. To rise on Indigenous land about nine miles west of the Gingolx village, the project is ideally situated along the country’s west coast as it has direct access to overseas markets and is close to proposed natural gas pipeline routes, according to Ksi Lisims. The partners tout the project as the world’s lowest-emission LNG facility. It is designed to have two floating LNG production and storage facilities, which will be built by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., with an all-electric process technology developed by Black & Veatch Corp. TotalEnergies noted the project’s location on the Pacific coast of Canada gives the facility a “privileged access” to Asia, the biggest LNG market. “This purchase of LNG from the future Ksi Lisims LNG plant will allow us to diversify our LNG portfolio in North America and benefit from competitive LNG supply in Western Canada to better serve our Asian customers, with whom we are developing a

Dive Brief: Utah-based EnergySolutions intends to apply for an early site permit from federal regulators to install new nuclear generation at the retired Kewaunee Power Station in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, the company said in a statement last week.   The nuclear services company is partnering on the project with WEC Energy Group, which owns the electric and gas utilities We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service.  The early site review could take about two years, followed by a “rigorous permitting process by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” WEC spokesperson Brendan Conway said in an email. If the project moves forward, construction could begin in the early 2030s and the new plant could come online in 2038 or 2039, he said. Dive Insight: The announcement comes amid renewed interest in nuclear to provide low-carbon energy as electricity demand rises. Some of that interest has centered on restarting decommissioned reactors, but much of it is focused on small modular reactors that experts say can be deployed more quickly and less expensively than traditional reactors.  Only a few working small modular reactors exist in China and Russia, but North American companies are racing to design and bring one online. Conway said there’s no consideration of restarting the old reactor on the site. “Decommissioning work at the plant has been going on for years,” he said. “It would not be practical to try to restart it.” Conway emphasized that the companies are “still in the very early stages of this process” and have not made any decisions about which new reactor technologies they might deploy at Kewaunee. Small modular reactors are under consideration, he added. The amount of new generation EnergySolutions and WEC could bring online and the site’s total hosting capacity is unclear. EnergySolutions CEO Ken Robuck told Wisconsin Public Radio last week that his

Europe can secure enough liquefied natural gas to refill storage for next winter at current prices, but the region faces competition for supply should prices fall further, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “We think that prices have to stay at current levels, or slightly above, in order to kill LNG demand outside of Europe,” Samantha Dart, the co-head of global commodities research, said on Bloomberg television. “If LNG gets too cheap this summer, you tend to see other buyers picking it up.” Europe has drawn in more LNG cargoes so far this year thanks in part to weaker demand from Asia. China, last year’s top buyer, has sharply cut purchases due to high inventories, stronger pipeline imports, and elevated spot prices that have made shipments uneconomical. However, that trend could reverse if LNG becomes cheaper than alternative fuels in the region. European gas storage ended winter below normal levels, but easing prices have provided some relief in recent months. The continent typically rebuilds its inventories during summer ahead of peak winter demand. Looking further out, Dart expects that a flood of new LNG supply — driven by the US and Qatar — will create an oversupply, which will be visible from 2027 and become larger over the rest of the decade. “We think having cheap natural gas for a few years can plant the seeds for additional demand growth,” she said. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR Bloomberg

In an EBW Analytics Group report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team today, Eli Rubin, an energy analyst at the company, outlined that “oversold NYMEX natural gas trampoline[d]… higher” on Tuesday. The report pointed out that the June natural gas contract closed at $3.427 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) yesterday, and that this represented a 31.4¢, or 10.1 percent, increase. “The six sessions ending Monday saw a 68¢ (-18 percent) re-pricing of the June natural gas contract, with Monday’s low within 0.1¢ of the front-month’s closing low in late April,” Rubin noted in the report. “Yesterday’s rally, helped by short-covering, may indicate a line in the sand – and could mark a bullish, long-term technical double-bottom pattern into summer,” he added. In the report, Rubin pointed out that “fundamentals do not explain Monday’s dramatic sell-off or Tuesday’s rip higher”. “Henry Hub spot prices averaged $3.15 per MMBtu yesterday. Weather shifts were relatively minor and not an important driver,” he added. “Neither production nor LNG have exhibited exceptional swings. 2025 injection season contracts have moved only 5.7¢ since Friday,” Rubin continued. Rubin also warned in the report that “volatility could extend” with Thursday’s U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly natural gas storage report, “uncertain physical markets into Memorial Day, and June options expiry and final settlement next week”. “After near-term catalysts clear, there is a likelihood for July contract upside after it becomes the front-month next week, with newly reset bullish technicals suggesting outsized gain,” Rubin went on to state in the report. In its latest weekly natural gas storage report at the time of writing, which was released on May 15 and included data for the week ending May 9, the EIA stated that “working gas in storage was 2,255 billion cubic feet as of Friday, May 9, 2025,