The Greater St. Louis and Illinois Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub industrial cluster in the US brings together a network of industries, businesses, community groups, and academic institutions to drive regional decarbonization. The cluster is following a corporate-led governance model convened by Ameren, a major regional utility player. Through this governance model, the cluster constituents are collaborating towards advancing both individual company and collective GHG emissions reduction goals by 2035. The vision for the cluster encompasses the region’s diverse industrial sectors – energy, steel, manufacturing and transport – alongside its existing infrastructure and natural resources. The governance model has supported review and communication of the vision by cluster constituents through a series of partnership meetings supported by the Forum’s Transitioning Industrial Clusters (TIC) initiative. Building upon the cluster’s common vision, a recent study by EPRI’s Low Carbon Resources Initiative (LCRI) programme helped the cluster to identify its primary value propositions related to a broad set of low-carbon fuels (including eSAF, eMethanol, eMethane and renewable diesel) that can use the region’s transport infrastructure and agricultural feedstocks. Capitalizing on an established ethanol industry and the potential to use curtailed wind power for electrolysis, the cluster shows strong promise for locally produced renewable fuels, which would support regional aviation, maritime and energy needs, as well as opportunities for domestic and international exports. The renewable fuels regional model has the potential to create more than 1,100 jobs, add $635 million to gross domestic product (GDP), and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 1.4 million tons (approximately 1.27 million tonnes) per year.38 The next step in the cluster’s collaboration is to move from vision to execution by continuing to identify and develop key strategic partnerships for economical, low-carbon projects within the cluster. This will be driven by bilateral discussions between the corporate leadership of the cluster and key companies from the regional low-carbon fuels value chain. Orchestrating a robust governance foundation with the aim of developing low-carbon fuel production for domestic and international consumption will create system value benefits – including CO2 emissions reduction, jobs, GDP and energy security – for players in the cluster, their value chain and wider local region. This study is critical for our shared vision as a cluster, supporting new low-carbon fuel infrastructure for carbon reduction and regional economic growth. Mark Fronmuller, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Environmental Strategy, Innovation and Enterprise Data, Ameren Greater St. Louis and Illinois Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub St Louis, Missouri and Illinois, USCASE STUDY 2 A regional fuel study helping a cluster identify its primary value propositions Unleashing the Full Potential of Industrial Clusters: Infrastructure Solutions for Clean Energies 13

Unleashing the Potential of Industrial Clusters 2025