Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced a CAD 9.14m investment for six projects to support innovation in Canada’s clean hydrogen sector, according to a news release.
Of this funding, $2.74 million was allocated through the Energy Innovation Program, including:
- $1.25 million to the University of British Columbia to develop a pilot plant of its patented pyrolysis technology for low-cost, low-emission hydrogen production.
- $900,000 to Enbridge Gas Inc. in Ontario for the Markham Virtual Hydrogen Hybrid Demonstration Project, which aims to demonstrate the use of existing wind and solar assets within Ontario’s power grid to produce renewable hydrogen and reduce power supply intermittency.
- $590,223 to Hydrogen in Motion in British Columbia to generate clean hydrogen with low-pressure solid-state storage, distribution and transport. This project is supported by the Hydrogen Centre of Excellence, a strategic initiative led by Alberta Innovates.
- $1.09 million to Ayrton Energy in Alberta to assess the feasibility of safe, efficient and cost-effective storage and transportation of hydrogen in conventional tanks, trucks and pipelines at ambient temperature and pressure. This project is also supported by the Hydrogen Centre of Excellence.
Funding is also allocated to Clean Fuels Fund projects to advance knowledge of the impacts of blending hydrogen into our existing utility networks. The hydrogen blending study represents an overall investment of up to $6.4 million, including:
- $5 million to Enbridge Gas Inc. in Ontario to conduct a System-Wide Hydrogen Blending Study to determine blended hydrogen gas’s feasibility and maximum limits in the Ontario utility’s existing network.
- $1.4 million to Trans Québec & Maritimes Pipeline Inc. in Quebec for a study to assess the technical feasibility of blending up to 10-percent hydrogen segments of their existing natural gas transmission system.
This federal government is fostering economic growth and building Canada’s clean economy. In doing so, we are investing in projects like the ones announced today to accelerate the production, distribution and use of clean fuels, including clean hydrogen. These advancements are guided by Canada’s Hydrogen Strategy (2020), which is positioning Canada as a global supplier and producer of clean hydrogen on our path to net zero by 2050.
Interest in low-carbon hydrogen in Canada has increased significantly since 2020, with over 80 low-carbon hydrogen production projects announced, representing over five million tonnes of hydrogen production capacity and an economic expression of interest of over $100 billion in potential investment in domestic clean energy opportunities and jobs.
Since 2020, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have published hydrogen strategies, identifying hydrogen as a provincial clean energy priority and describing provincial actions and objectives to realize regional low-carbon hydrogen objectives. There are now 13 low-carbon hydrogen production facilities in operation across Canada able to produce over 3,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen per year.
