The Government of Alberta, through Alberta Innovates and Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) is announcing $57m, worth $280m, in innovation funding for 28 projects to advance a hydrogen economy, reduce emissions, and create jobs in Alberta.
Alberta Innovates, in partnership with Natural Resources Canada, is committing $22.5m for 20 early-stage projects through the Hydrogen Centre of Excellence – Competition 2. ERA, with funding from the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program, is committing $34.5m for eight late-stage projects through its Accelerating Hydrogen Challenge.
Projects cover the spectrum of hydrogen production, storage, transmission, distribution and usage. They include building resilient pipelines capable of distributing hydrogen safely, creating furnaces and water heaters fueled by hydrogen, advancing retrofit kits of diesel engines, providing heat and power to a municipal recreation centre, and more. Successful applicants have 24 months for Alberta Innovates-funded projects, and 36 months for ERA-funded projects to complete their work.
Interest in both programs was strong with many applications submitted. 95 expressions of interest were received for the Hydrogen Centre of Excellence – Competition 2. That was narrowed down to 45 projects which submitted full proposals. 37 reviewers, both internal and external to Alberta Innovates, provided reviews on the projects and ultimately 20 successful applications were recommended to Alberta Innovates’ Board of Trustees for funding.
ERA projects were selected through a competitive review process. A team of experts in science, engineering, business development, commercialization, financing, and greenhouse gas quantification conducted an independent, rigorous, transparent review overseen by a Fairness Monitor. All ERA recipients will be required to report on project outcomes, achievements, and lessons learned including GHG reductions, job creation, and other environmental, economic, and social benefits.
EMISSIONS REDUCTION ALBERTA FUNDED PROJECTS
ERA is committing $34.5 million in funding for 8 projects, representing a total project value of approximately $162 million.
| Organization | Project Description | Amount | |
| Certarus | Scale-up and deploy hydrogen storage, compression, and blending equipment at an existing compressed natural gas hub | $1.200,000 | |
| City of Calgary | Pilot the implementation and testing of hydrogen vehicles and equipment to determine suitability and incorporation | $2,200,000 | |
| City of Edmonton | Demonstrate a methanol-to-hydrogen fueling system while integrating two hydrogen vehicle technologies to test fueling and vehicle performance | $6,900,000 | |
| Diesel Tech Industries | Advancing retrofit kits for diesel engines, allowing for the co-combustion of both diesel fuel and hydrogen gas | $2,000,000 | |
| Linde Canada | Install hydrogen production, distribution, and refueling infrastructure in Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan to supply hydrogen for Edmonton Transit | $7,000,000 | |
| NuVista Energy | Demonstrate a pulsed-methane pyrolysis (PMP) technology to produce low-carbon hydrogen and a solid carbon byproduct | $7,000,000 | |
| Strathcona County | Install a hydrogen-fueled combined heat and power (CHP) system to provide heat and power at the Millennium Place Recreation Centre | $5,000,000 | |
| Thiozen Inc. | Produce hydrogen from hydrogen sulfide waste streams derived from sour gas and test at NuVista’s Wembley Gas Plant | $3,200,000 | |
| Total | $34,500,000 | ||
ALBERTA INNOVATES FUNDED PROJECTS
Alberta Innovates is committing $22.5 million in funding for 20 projects, representing a total project value of approximately $118.8 million.
| Organization | Project Description | Amount | |
| Ayrton Energy | Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier for Safe, Efficient, and Easy H2 Storage and Transportation | $1,700,000 | |
| ATCO Gas and Pipelines | Numerical and Experimental Evaluation of Hydrogen Blended Gas Mitigation | $500,000 | |
| City of Calgary | Hydrogen Fueling and Pilot Fleet Feasibility Study | $100,000 | |
| Edmonton Regional Airport | Zero-Emission Flight in Alberta: Canada’s First multi-Modal Hydrogen Aviation at Edmonton International Airport Hub | $1,700,000 | |
| Ekona Power Inc. | Pulsed Methane Pyrolysis, PMP, Commercial Demonstration FEED Study | $1,000,000 | |
| Gradient Thermal | Gradient 100% H2 syncFURNACE | $1,900,000 | |
| Luxfer Canada Ltd. | Next-Generation Polymer Lined High-Pressure Hydrogen Storage Cylinder | $2,000,000 | |
| Pembina Pipeline | Low Carbon Hydrogen & Low Carbon Ammonia Study | $2,000,000 | |
| Pipeline Research Council | Full Scale Testing of Legacy Pipeline Materials for the Purpose of Retrofitting Existing Natural Gas Pipelines for Hydrogen Service | $1,900,000 | |
| Total Containment Inc. | Resilient Pipelines, Resilient Energy: Developing Robotically Applied Protective Coating Systems for Hydrogen Applications | $400,000 | |
| TransCanada Energy Ltd. | Development of Engineering Assessment Framework to Address the Impact of Hydrogen on Pipeline Girth Welds | $400,000 | |
| TransCanada Energy Ltd. | On-site Hydrogen Production VIA Methane Pyrolysis for Fuel Switching at Compressor Stations | $300,000 | |
| University of Alberta | Field trial of Hydrogen Storage in Canadian Domal and Bedded Salts | $1,200,000 | |
| University of Alberta | Advancing Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer: 3D Porous De-alloyed Catalysts key to a High Power AEM Electrolyser | $500,000 | |
| University of Alberta | Microbubble-Enhanced Cold Plasma Nitrogen Fixation as Sustainable Hydrogen Carrier | $400,000 | |
| University of Calgary | Design and Development of Novel Hydrogen Powered Gas Burner Technologies for Residential and Commercial Buildings | $600,000 | |
| University of Calgary | Safe Hydrogen Agile Pipeline Engineering (SHAPE): Digital Transformation and Lead Detection through AI and Digital | $600,000 | |
| Verne Inc. | First-of-kind Cryo-Compressed Hydrogen Demonstration in Class 8 Trucking | $2,000,000 | |
| Vessel Energy Systems | Development and Certification of Novel Flat Hydrogen Storage Vessel | $1,300,000 | |
| VulcanX Energy Corp | Extended Front-End Engineering Design of Pre-Commercial Low-Emissions Hydrogen Production from Natural Gas Pyrolysis | $2,000,000 | |
| Total | $22,500,000 | ||
