Canada is moving quickly to become a major international player in clean hydrogen—the term used by the Canadian government to describe green and blue varieties of the fuel—with six blue hydrogen or blue ammonia projects at various stages of development, four of which are targeted at export markets.

All six projects were announced last year and are in the state of Alberta.  

Energy firms Atco and Suncor are planning a multibillion-dollar clean hydrogen production facility with first hydrogen expected around 2028. Industrial gases firm Air Products has announced a C$1.3bn ($1bn) blue hydrogen facility, with no completion date announced yet. Japanese utility Itochu and Malaysian oil and gas firm Petronas have announced a feasibility study for a C$1.3bn hydrogen and ammonia production facility for export. Construction is expected to start in 2023, with completion by 2027.

And Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi and Shell have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a clean hydrogen and ammonia facility. Meanwhile, chemicals firm Dow Chemical has announced plans for a net-zero ethylene cracker facility in Alberta.

6 – Blue hydrogen-related projects at planning stage in Alberta

Local company Northern Petrochemical Corporation is planning a low-carbon ammonia and petrochemical facility just south of Grande Prairie. The facility is expected to cost C$2.5 bn and construction is targeted to be complete by 2026.

 “I see over C$14bn [$10.9bn] worth of hydrogen investments that have been made in the last 12 months,” says Dale Nally, Alberta’s minister of gas and electricity. “We never expected to be in the export game as fast as we are going to be.”

Fast start

Alberta’s initial hydrogen strategy laid out a plan to use this hydrogen to decarbonise domestically, followed by targeting export markets for production.

But Canada has moved faster than expected on the export front because of high levels of foreign demand, according to David Layzell, energy systems architect and research director at the Transition Accelerator—a Canadian NGO that aims to promote pathways for Canada to reach net zero by 2050.

“While the scale and economics of blue hydrogen production is getting the most attention for export markets in western Canada, in provinces such as Quebec and Newfoundland, surplus hydropower gives them the potential for large-scale green hydrogen production that can be exported to Europe,” Layzell tells Hydrogen Economist.  “Of course, Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine has accelerated interest in this opportunity.”

Blue hydrogen-related products to be produced in Alberta will be cost-competitive with supplies from Australia and the Middle East, adds Layzell.

Bigger prize

Canada should think in terms of new partnerships that support the use of hydrogen in the transport and heating sectors as well as industry, according to Layzell.

“I see over C$14bn worth of hydrogen investments that have been made in the last 12 months” Nally, Albertan gas and electricity minister

“In the next few years, we need to deploy many thousands of hydrogen-using trucks, buses and trains in hubs across Canada and explore the use of hydrogen for space heating and peak power generation,” he says.

“This will have knock-on benefits to our manufacturing sectors, since Canada has long been a world leader in proton-exchange-membrane fuel-cell technology,” says Layzell.

Canada already has a significant number of electrolyser and fuel-cell manufacturers, including Ballard, Loop Energy, Next Hydrogen, Hydrogen Optimized and Hydrogenics—now a subsidiary of US-based diesel engine-maker Cummins. Moreover, companies such as rail operator CP Rail and trucking firm Hydra Energy are now retrofitting locomotives and large trucks to use hydrogen as a fuel.

These domestic and export markets for fuel hydrogen are potentially “huge” for Canada, according to Layzell. Alberta’s hydrogen roadmap, released in November, estimated the global trade of hydrogen to be worth around $700bn by 2050.

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Author: Vincent Lauerman