The project is part of an audacious plan to create hydrogen, which produces no carbon dioxide when burned, and store it in caverns until electricity is needed.
The power grid can’t keep up with demand for connections, and local planning authorities can block new construction for years. Overcoming these roadblocks has gained essential support.
Government officials and energy developers misjudged the difficulty of building huge clean energy projects in the United States, which has built very few of them.
Facilities remain hobbled by Russian attacks, repair work is unfinished and there is little spare equipment, although air defenses have been strengthened.