Energy Department cancels $3.7B of clean energy awards

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced the termination of 24 awards issued by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations totaling over $3.7B in taxpayer-funded financial assistance. “After a thorough and individualized financial review of each award, DOE found that these projects failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars,” Wright said in a statement. Among the canceled awards, according to a list provided to Bloomberg by the Energy Department, was $331M to Exxon Mobil (XOM) for a hydrogen project at the company’s Baytown, Texas, refinery, $170M to Kraft Heinz (KHC) for a series of clean energy projects; and $500M to Heidelberg Materials (HLBZF) (HLZBF) for a low-carbon cement project.