Gulf wind projects would also provide new opportunities for producing hydrogen — a fuel whose demand is expected to surge amid the search for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industries such as long-haul trucking, fertilizer manufacturing and aviation.

“With the Gulf of Mexico being an oil and gas region, there’s a lot of talk about other potential technological opportunities,” said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents domestic offshore oil, gas and wind industries. “You could have situations where offshore wind plays a role in providing power generation for a project that is producing hydrogen. Because that region has infrastructure for oil and gas, you’ll have a lot of rights of way already in place.”

Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas announced in March that they intend to apply as a unit for funding from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law to establish a regional clean hydrogen hub. Congress included $8 billion in the bill for at least four new hydrogen hubs around the country to expand the use of clean hydrogen in the industrial sector. 

As part of the states’ announcement, they highlighted the ready availability of hydrogen for demonstration in the region and the existing pipeline infrastructure that runs from Oklahoma through Arkansas to the Gulf.

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