The Canadian province of Alberta released a plan this month to become a leading exporter of hydrogen by 2030—ten years earlier than the previous goal of 2040.

Alberta, with its large oil and gas industry, is Canada’s largest producer of hydrogen, with an output of 2.4mn t/yr, and is the country’s biggest exporter of the fuel.

The province is agnostic over the colour of the hydrogen it produces under the strategy as long as it is low-carbon, according to Dale Nally, associate minister for natural gas and electricity.

“Hydrogen can absolutely be a game-changer for our province on many levels,” he told a news conference on the release of the roadmap. “We have the natural advantages to make hydrogen that is both clean and affordable.”

Despite Nally’s comments on technology neutrality, the focus of Alberta’s strategy is on blue hydrogen. It notes that natural gas-based hydrogen production processes are mature and in place throughout the province, but that carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) infrastructure must be widely available to decarbonise blue hydrogen production.

“Hydrogen can absolutely be a game-changer for our province on many levels” Nally, Alberta associate minister for gas and electricity

This can be achieved in the near term by retrofitting existing steam methane reforming infrastructure with CCUS and building new autothermal reforming facilities with CCUS, the strategy adds.

“Over time, further emissions reductions can be realised with technologies such as renewable energy-based hydrogen production or emerging natural gas decomposition, once they are cost-effective and competitive,” says the report, noting that green hydrogen likely offers the best option for low-carbon hydrogen production after 2030.

A successful strategy will see more than C$30bn ($23.7bn) invested in clean hydrogen production and development in Alberta, the report says, creating tens of thousands of jobs and greenhouse gas reductions of 14mn t/yr, with most of the emissions reductions coming from industrial processes.

The strategy stresses the importance of de-risking investments and points to four end-uses for hydrogen within the province—heating for buildings, power generation, transport and industrial use.

Blue over green

But critics say the strategy is short on details, does not provide any financial support for the nascent industry, and favours blue hydrogen over green.

“[The governing United Conservative Party ] seem to be projecting some good outcomes, but they do not specify how they plan to get there,” Kathleen Ganley, of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), tells Hydrogen Economist.

2.4mn t/yr – Canada’s hydrogen production

The NDP released a detailed $350mn hydrogen plan last year that called for public loan guarantees for hydrogen pipeline infrastructure and royalty credits to attract large hydrogen projects. It also advocated for production hubs and a taskforce of experts to study the economics of a pipeline that could allow Alberta to export hydrogen to markets such as California, Japan and South Korea.

Ganley adds that the roadmap’s focus on blue hydrogen is “a real concern—there is nothing for green”. Alberta needs to do more than is outlined in the roadmap if it wants to attract firms in the hydrogen sector away from the US, she warns. 

The US’ new $1.2tn bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden on 15 November, earmarks $9.5bn for the hydrogen sector.

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Author: Ros Davidson