Clean hydrogen markets

Path for hydrogen

The Hydrogen Roadmap is Alberta’s path to building a provincial hydrogen economy and accessing global markets. It identifies 5 hydrogen markets in the province including:

Industrial processes

Alberta currently produces approximately 2.5 million tonnes of hydrogen per year for industrial processes. The hydrogen is used as a feedstock to industrial operations. About 55% of Alberta’s current hydrogen production is used for heavy oil upgrading, 38% is used for the chemical sector and chemical industry by-products, and 7% for oil refining.

Alberta’s hydrogen producers are looking at a variety of ways to reduce emissions in their industrial processes, including hydrogen production. See the listing of current producers in economic opportunities.

Emissions reductions may include using carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies. CCUS uses integrated technologies and methods to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Captured carbon dioxide can also be used for enhanced oil recovery, or as a commodity and feedstock to make other products, such as building materials and chemicals. Research is ongoing to establish and demonstrate future applications for carbon dioxide use.

To enable more carbon sequestration hubs and de-risk investment, Alberta has issued carbon sequestration rights through a competitive process. Learn more about Carbon Sequestration Tenure Management.

See Hydrogen 101 for more information on hydrogen in industrial processes.

Gas utilities

Hydrogen is a decarbonization option for commercial and residential gas utility systems, for use in appliances such as furnaces, boilers, water heaters, gas fireplaces, stoves and laundry dryers.

Home builders and utilities in Alberta are exploring hydrogen blending with natural gas for residential and commercial heating. Hydrogen blending in low volumes (for example, 15 to 20%) with the existing low-pressure natural gas distribution network requires minimal physical changes to infrastructure. Pure hydrogen networks require systems that are easier to incorporate at new building stages.

Hydrogen blending in Alberta

Blending hydrogen with natural gas has successfully been demonstrated in other countries, and is now being tested in Alberta. The Fort Saskatchewan Hydrogen Blending pilot project with Canadian Utilities, a subsidiary of ATCO, began testing a 5% by volume hydrogen blend with natural gas in a small subset of the residential natural gas distribution system in late 2022. It’s expected some customers in the project zone will see an increase from 5 to 20% hydrogen blended into their natural gas stream in late 2023.

Pure hydrogen networks

Pure hydrogen communities will require specialized appliances and may emerge at a small scale in new community developments. Alberta could become a global leader in pure hydrogen utility systems, leveraging our experience and expertise with hydrogen.

Pure hydrogen communities are currently in the pilot and demonstration stage. Globally, Fife, Scotland, is planning a 300 household conversion to pure hydrogen by 2024.

Power generation and storage

Power generation facilities in Alberta continue to undergo coal-to-gas conversions, with the majority of coal-fired electricity being replaced with natural gas. This provides the opportunity for clean hydrogen to be integrated with natural gas as a fuel source and also support energy storage. Some facilities can also leapfrog directly to pure hydrogen power generation.

Hydrogen can serve as large-scale energy storage for intermittent renewables and can fuel hydrogen-capable turbines or stationary fuel cells. The future state of integrating hydrogen into the power generation and storage sector will ultimately depend on the technology being proven effective at the commercial scale and ensuring competitiveness. The transition toward a clean hydrogen economy will need to support market competition and affordability of power generation for end users.

Air Products, Heartland Generation and Capital Power are both working on hydrogen power. Learn more in economic opportunities.

Transportation

Using hydrogen as fuel for vehicle fleets such as buses and commercial trucks is a viable solution to help lower carbon emissions in the transportation market. Hydrogen can very competitive in the transportation sector, but infrastructure and fuelling stations will need to be in place.

Hydrogen fuel cell electric transportation

Fuel cell technology first captured the international spotlight during the oil shocks in the 1970s. In 2014, Toyota offered the world’s first consumer fuel cell vehicles, sold in British Columbia and Quebec where hydrogen fuelling stations are available.

Hydrogen fuel cells are already commercially available for some personal light-duty vehicles, forklifts and buses. Hydrogen fuel cells can also be used for trucks for the mining industry or Class 8 commercial trucks, and are currently at the prototype and demonstration phase.

While there are several options to decarbonize the transportation sector, hydrogen is considered a viable option globally in transportation sectors that require long ranges, shorter refuelling, and ability to support heavy weights, such as the trucking industry.

Hydrogen fuel cells are being deployed for trucks, buses and light-duty vehicles in Alberta. The Alberta Zero Emissions Truck Electrification Collaboration (AZETEC) is a $18 million project, partially funded with approximately $7.3 million from Emissions Reduction Alberta, where 2 long range (700 km) fuel cell electric trucks will operate between Edmonton and Calgary beginning in 2023.

The Alberta Zero Emission Hydrogen Transit (AZEHT) project has two hydrogen fuel cell electric buses used in road trials shared by the municipalities of Edmonton and Strathcona County.

In addition, Edmonton International Airport announced a partnership with Toyota Canada that will soon put 100 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles on Alberta's roads for airport transportation services. The Edmonton International Airport is currently partnering with Air Products to secure a cost-effective supply of locally produced clean hydrogen for the hydrogen vehicles by constructing a temporary mobile hydrogen fuelling station at the airport.

CP Rail is testing the first hydrogen-powered engine to move cargo in the Calgary-area and expects to operate all 3 of the hydrogen and battery-powered locomotives by the end of the year. The company also operates hydrogen production and fuelling facilities in Calgary and Edmonton.

Dual fuel vehicles

Hydrogen can also be blended with diesel and used in an internal combustion engine, if the engine is retrofitted.

Dual fuel vehicles could be an important bridge technology to help with eventual wider adoption of pure hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Dual fuel vehicles have a lower cost than fuel cell vehicles and have the additional flexibility to operate with or without a hydrogen supply.

British Columbia’s Hydra Energy, and the United Kingdom’s Ulemco are currently working on retrofitting existing diesel engines so hydrogen can be used in the engines along with diesel fuel.

Research on dual fuel engines is also ongoing at the University of Alberta. The post-secondary institution has partnered with the Transition Accelerator and an original equipment manufacturer to integrate hydrogen injection technology into the software of an engine’s electronic control unit. The project is called the Blue Hydrogen-Diesel Dual Fuel Engine Technology Development.

Clean hydrogen export

Canada ranks in the top 10 of global hydrogen producers. International demand for clean hydrogen is growing in the Asia Pacific, European and North American markets. Alberta is in a very strong position to support this emerging global hydrogen demand and exporting hydrogen could have a major role in the province’s future energy competitiveness.

A cost competitive opportunity for Alberta is to export hydrogen in the form of ammonia. Major Japanese power utilities are interested in burning clean ammonia in gas turbines or co-burning with coal to reduce greenhouse gases emissions for power generation. Moving hydrogen in the form of ammonia could improve export cost competitiveness, especially if end-use sectors can use ammonia directly in their applications. Other hydrogen carriers, such as methanol or liquid organic hydrogen carriers, will also be explored as export opportunities.

Contact

Connect with the Natural Gas Strategy and Engagement Branch:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Email: [email protected]

Mailing Address:
Alberta Energy and Minerals
Natural Gas Strategy and Engagement Branch
6th Floor, North Petroleum Plaza
9945 108 Street*
Edmonton, Alberta  T5K 2G6

* Couriers, please report to the 2nd floor.