Carbon-neutral aspirations by CF Industries has nothing to do with the provincial government's new focus on hydrogen, though the associate minister in charge says it's a nice bonus.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The Alberta government has announced incentives for new fertilizer and hydrogen plants less than 24 hours after CF Industries announced it planned to become a major player in the burgeoning hydrogen sector.
“CF has a very interesting project and it’s the kind of project that we’re very interested in – but the timing is purely coincidental,” said Dale Nally, the province’s Associate Minister of Natural Gas.
His office is currently handling an updating of petrochemical diversification programming as well as authoring a new hydrogen strategy that is due next spring.
On Friday, he announced the province would expand its Alberta Petrochemical Incentive grant to potentially pays up to 12 per cent of the cost to build or expand new production facilities.
CF Industries announced on Thursday that it will spend US$400 million this year to develop a green ammonia production facility at its plant in Donaldsonville, La. That would employ carbon sequestration and pose it to become a major supplier of hydrogen.
That substance is increasingly seen as a low-emission fuel source that could drive down carbon dioxide emissions in transportation and utilities sectors.
The company will determine a plan for its North American facilities in the coming year, including a major facility in Medicine Hat, to reduce emissions by one quarter by 2030, then be completely carbon neutral by 2050.
CF officials would not comment on a facility-by-facility basis, but stressed in correspondence with the News that the Alberta location was important to the company’s future.
Nally said Alberta needs to be aggressive in marketing itself and its abundant natural gas supply to companies that refine and process it into higher-priced commodities.
He said grants “streamline” the process for businesses that are being wooed by states and province’s seeking new projects.
He also said large volumes of natural gas and Alberta’s current position in the energy sector make “blue hydrogen production,” meaning hydrogen derived from fossil fuels, “a natural fit for Alberta.”
“The hydrogen task force is looking to accelerate that development,” he said. “That will advance the hydrogen industry across the province.”
Medicine Hat is one of several sites in the province viewed as a potential regional petrochemical production hub following a 2017 diversification report undertaken by the previous NDP government.
Alberta has offered programs to lure petrochemical producers to build or expand plants in the province since 2017. Initial rounds that paid royalty credits to owners of new plants as way to accelerate capital payback periods, led to two major plastics facilities that are now under construction near Edmonton.
The United Conservative government, which took power in early 2018, announced this summer the program would be altered.
