Proton Technologies Canada Inc. (Proton) has secured the Superb air injection test facility to de-risk the technology development path of its clean hydrogen innovation suite. Superb, located near Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, will be operated under a subsidiary of Proton, Superb Operating Company Ltd.The purchase of the facility enables Proton to complete the remaining hydrogen technology testing at the Superb site, where it intends to produce clean commercial hydrogen. Ownership of the test site de-risks technology development and improves timelines and cost efficiencies. Originally built at a cost of $200 million, the project was producing hydrogen as a byproduct. Proton will take advantage of the inherent hydrogen potential to accelerate the technology development path and realize commercial development sooner.
Proton has a way to make clean hydrogen at an anticipated production cost below $0.30 US per kg with a lower carbon intensity than wind or solar to electrolysis. Oil fields are not abandoned because they are empty, rather they have reached an economic limit but much of the oil remains in the ground. Proton’s process involves injecting oxygen into oilfields. This triggers reactions that produce hydrogen. Then a downhole hydrogen filter only allows hydrogen to come into the production well and up to surface, leaving all carbon in the ground. The cost structure is low because late-life oilfields become Proton’s reaction vessel which already contains decades of fuel.