H2Tech - Q3 2021 - 12

REGIONAL REPORT: NORTH AMERICA
pared to alternative energy sources and
decarbonization potential.3
According to a report from Alberta's
Transition Accelerator, in Canadian provinces
that have ample low-carbon electricity
from hydropower, nuclear or renewables,
electrolysis can produce green H2
for $2.50/kg-$5/kg. In provinces with
low-cost natural gas and geology suitable
for permanently sequestering CO2
H2 can be produced at a cost of $1.50-$2/
, blue
kg. It is anticipated that by 2030, green H2
will be cost-competitive in Canada as a result
of lower renewable energy costs and
the scaling up of electrolyzer technology.
H2
field testing green H2
projects. In Canada, utilities are
blends with natural
gas ahead of the 2021-2022 heating
season for the Ontario and Alberta residential
markets. A Québec pilot project
will employ H2
to extract ethanol and
methanol from landfill sites. Also, British
Columbia and Québec have already
begun deploying H2
fueling infrastructure
to support FCEV mobility. Furthermore,
the country's Hydrogen Strategy
acknowledges that significant renewable
resources exist to generate green H2
, including
existing hydroelectric generation
in British Columbia, Québec, Manitoba,
and Newfoundland.
The government has also singled out
Canada's vast natural gas reserves, primarily
in Alberta, as a main fuel source for
blue H2
production to exploit inherent
competitive advantages. In Alberta, Air
Products is building a $1.1-B complex in
Edmonton to produce blue H2
and capture
95% of its carbon emissions. When
it opens in 2024, the Net-Zero Hydrogen
Energy Complex will be the first of its kind
in Canada. Air Products will also build an
H2
liquefaction facility to supply indus-based
power plant.
trial customers and commercial FCEV
fleets, as well as an H2
Canada's Suncor Energy will partner
project near Fort Saskatchewan, Alby
capturing carbon emissions from
prowith
utility ATCO Ltd. to develop a blue
H2
berta. The project would produce more
than 300,000 metric tpy of low-carbon
H2
oilsands production. An FID on the project
is expected in 2024, with operations
projected to start by 2028 if the project
is sanctioned. Around 65% of the H2
duced would be used at Suncor's Edmonton
refinery, while another 20% could be
used in the Alberta natural gas grid.
In Québec, Air Liquide inaugurated
12 Q3 2021 | H2-Tech.com
Also in Bécancour, Canada's H2V Energies
is building a green H2
plant that will
commence production in 2022. The Alpha
plant, to be constructed in the Bécancour
Waterfront Industrial Park, will deploy
a new industrial plasma gasification
technology for converting raw residual
biomass material into syngas to produce
around 49,000 metric tpy of green H2
without electrolysis.
Meanwhile, the green H2
the world's largest PEM electrolyzer in
Bécancour in January 2021. The 20-MW
electrolyzer, which is capable of producing
up to 8.2 metric tpd of H2
, increased
the capacity of Air Liquide's Bécancour
H2
production complex by 50%.
The potential for H2
use in power generation,
industrial heating and
as an industrial feedstock
in the U.S. and Canada
is high.
feature a $200-MM green H2
plant with a
dedicated wind farm. Utility FortisBC will
be the offtaker for the plant's production
of 60 metric tpd of H2
, which will help it
increase the renewable content of its natural
gas to 15%, as per a provincial mandate.
In Ontario, Enbridge and Hydrogenics
were selected by the Independent Electricity
System Operator for Ontario for a
grid energy storage project. The project
will deliver 2 MW of storage capacity and
be located in the greater Toronto area. Hydrogenics
will supply the facility's nextgeneration
PEM electrolyzers and is partnering
with Enbridge to develop, build
and operate the energy storage facility.
Furthermore, Enbridge Gas and Cummins
are undertaking a $5.2-MM project
to pilot the blending of renewable H2
produced at the Markham, Ontario power-to-gas
facility into a portion of the existing
natural gas network serving about
3,600 customers. The success of the project
in 2021 will support Enbridge Gas in
pursuing additional and larger-scale H2
blending activities in other parts of its
distribution system.
Ontario's nuclear industry also has the
division of
Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers
was awarded a contract to carry out the
installation of an 88-MW electrolysis
plant for Hydro-Québec, an energy firm
backed by the provincial government.
The electricity for the plant, to be built
in Varennes, will come from hydropower.
The project will generate 11,100 metric
tpy of green H2
on startup in late 2023.
Evolugen, the Canadian operating
business of Brookfield Renewable, and
Gazifère, an Enbridge company, are collaborating
on a $90-MM project to advance
the development and use of green H2
, and
have announced plans to build and operate
a 20-MW water electrolysis plant in the
Outaouais region of Québec. An estimated
capacity of approximately 425,000 GJ
of green H2
through water electrolysis powpotential
to work synergistically with H2
by using off-peak electricity for electrolysis
or by using excess steam from nuclear reactors
(including future small modular reactors)
to improve electrolyzer efficiency.
Regional outlook. North America is
projects and building
heating and as an industrial feedstock in
the U.S. and Canada is high.
Near-term opportunity exists in using
blue H2
to reduce feedstock emissions in
to be competitive at a large
to $2/kg.
LITERATURE CITED
refining and ammonia manufacturing.
For green H2
scale, substantial decreases in production
and storage costs will be necessary over
the next decade to bring down the price of
green H2
will be produced for injection
into Gazifère's distribution network.
In British Columbia, Renewable Hydrogen
Canada (RH2C) plans to produce
green H2
ered by wind and hydropower. RH2C's
first project, Sundance Hydrogen, is a JV
among RH2C, FortisBC and Macquarie
Green Investment Group. The project will
2
1
" Roadmap to a U.S. hydrogen economy, " McKinsey
& Co. and Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy
Association (FCHEA), October 5, 2020, Online:
https://www.fchea.org/us-hydrogen-study
Satyapal, S., " 2021 AMR plenary session, " U.S.
DOE, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies
Office, June 7, 2021.
3
" Hydrogen strategy for Canada: Seizing the
opportunities for hydrogen, " Government of
Canada, December 2020.
joining Europe and Asia in starting up
blue and green H2
out H2 infrastructure. The potential for
H2 use in power generation, industrial
https://www.fchea.org/us-hydrogen-study http://www.H2-Tech.com
H2Tech - Q3 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of H2Tech - Q3 2021
