History
In February 2003, following President Bush's State of the Union Address, Congressman Dave Weldon, a long time hydrogen power advocate, organized and led a statewide group of community leaders, university researchers, industry representatives, and government officials to begin the process of making Florida the nation's leader in development of and transition to a hydrogen economy. Thus, a statewide group, called the Florida Hydrogen Initiative, was formed with the mission of moving Florida to the forefront of the nation's hydrogen economy.
Throughout 2003, stakeholders met several times to shape the goals and mission of a Florida-based organization dedicated to advancing Florida’s place in a national hydrogen economy. The Florida Hydrogen Initiative, Inc. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Florida as a not-for-profit corporation on February 7, 2004.
In the spring of 2004, the Florida Hydrogen Initiative, Inc. received approximately $2 million in grant funds from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund projects in Florida. In March and June 2004, the Initiative solicited qualified letters of interest with specified matching requirements (20% cost-share for education & research; 50% cost-share for technology demonstrations) for its inaugural grant awards program. The 2004 solicitation yielded 57 letters of interest proposing projects with more than $35 million in pledged cost shares. Winning proposals have been selected by the Board of Directors and project announcements were made in the Spring of 2005. Please see our Current Projects page for more information.
In January 2005, the Florida Hydrogen Initiative, Inc. received a second grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for approximately $2 million. A call for letters of interest yielded 31 responses. The technical reviews of these letters of interest have been completed, winners have been notified, and the Board of Directors will announce winning projects in the near future.