A flare stack lights the sky from an oil refinery in Edmonton in this December 2018 file photo.--CP FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
An anxiously awaited road map for developing a hydrogen industry in the province will follow a general diversification plan to promote regional hubs when it is released “soon,” according to Premier Jason Kenney.
That means Medicine Hat could be considered a secondary centre for investment and cluster development, similar to a 2019 natural gas and petrochemical diversification program.
The premier also said the Heartland Industrial Complex near Edmonton has several advantages for immediate term investments in the burgeoning industry.
This hub is east of Edmonton, and they’ve had this vision for some time.
“There are important natural gas reserves near Medicine Hat as well and we hope to see investments across the province as well,” said Kenney during the announcement Wednesday of a new C$1.3-billion plant near Edmonton that would convert methane to “blue hydrogen” while reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
The initial phase of the facility, built by Air Products, would be complete in 2024 and employ 2,500 workers during construction. It is being billed as the first such facility in Canada.
“One key part of this is carbon capture, utilization and storage and infrastructure. Last year we commissioned the Alberta Carbon Trunkline, which is now sequestering an enormous amount of CO2 in the sedimentary basin in central Alberta. That’s only 10 per cent utilized right now.”
As well, the Heartland Complex already has a hydrogen market between several of the large industrial interests in the cluster, an operating pipeline to carry CO2 away to be pumped back into mature oilfields, and several pilot projects aimed at hydrogen fuel use.
Atco will blend hydrogen into home heating fuel next year, the Alberta Motor Transport Association has a federal grant to test hydrogen powered long-distance haulers between Edmonton and Calgary, and the City of Edmonton is now testing hydrogen fuel cells in its transit fleet.
Elsewhere in the province, CF Industries is now evaluating projects to produce lower carbon ammonia (that can be converted back to hydrogen once transported) across its global fertilizer network, including a major plant in Medicine Hat.
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, federal ministers Francois-Philippe Champagne (Innovation), Seamus O’Regan (Natural Resources), and company officials also took part in the tel-press conference.
“The opportunity is obviously there in Canada and we are working on other significant projects in other parts of Canada,” said Seifi Ghasemi, president of Pennsylvania-based Air Products. “As the government supports the transition … there are significant opportunities.”
Government officials agreed, with federal ministers O’Regan stating regions traditionally dependent on fossil fuel extraction can capitalize on existing reserves for “Blue Hydrogen,” which is created from natural gas.
“Blue hydrogen and green hydrogen (created from water with green electricity) is the strength of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and my own province, Newfoundland,” he said. “This country is ready to be a hydrogen powerhouse … and we will lead.”
The province and Ottawa are both advertising Edmonton as the first of potentially many hydrogen hubs across the country to create and disperse the fuel that could replace gas in transportation and power production, but produce water, not CO2 when burned.
For Canada to meet climate goals, carbon released in blue hydrogen production would need to be captured for there to be a net benefit.
Air Products officials say that instead of traditional steam reforming, a process called “auto-reforming” will allow up to 95 per cent of CO2 to be captured, leading them to bill the fuel as “Blue but better.”
The plant is scalable, and further phases moved ahead when demand grows, said Rachel Smith of Air Products Canada.
“We do see that Alberta will be a natural home particularly for blue hydrogen investments,” said Kenney, who said a provincial hydrogen strategy promised last spring could be released this spring.
The project is benefiting from a $15-million grant from the province’s TIER fund and final details of a further grant from the province’s petrochemical diversification program are still being developed, said Kenney.
