Cutting-edge hydrogen power project planned for Port Moody

Port Moody, B.C., will be home to an innovativelow-emission hydrogen power plant, according to the three companies behind a pilot project slated to start construction late next year.

The test project would be the first such plant in B.C., and possibly Canada, to produce what's known as "turquoise hydrogen," an almost zero-emission method for capturing and converting methane from burning natural gas. Similar projects exist in Germany and France.

The Port Moody project is now in the planning stage, said a FortisBC Energy spokesperson.

"Hydrogen has a load of potential for British Columbia," said Sean Beardow in a phone interview Monday. "It's potentially a huge resource for us an important piece of how we expand our renewable and low-carbon gases."

Hydrogen has long been seen as having major potential for climate-friendly electricity production and fuel cells for transport.

As British Columbia and other jurisdictions vow to dramatically curb emissions in the face of climate change, developing large-scale, greener energy sources is a key technological challenge especially electricity that can be transported over large distances or traded abroad.

The pilot project in Port Moody would be small scale at first. But if developed commercially, the plant could eventually produce up to 2,500 tonnes of zero-emission hydrogen fuel a year, equivalent to 300,000 gigajoulesof energy, its proponents say.

That would be enough energy to power more than 3,000 homes, says FortisBC.

The natural gas firm is partnering with Australia-based Hazer Group which already generates hydrogen powerata pilot project in thatcountry and Suncor, which will host the plant on its Burrard Terminal property.

The process of usingnatural gas to create hydrogen fuel has been criticized because it still uses fossil fuels.

But supporters of the project say it will not release greenhouse gases. Using a method called methane pyrolysis, the plant would essentially separate carbon from hydrogen in the methane released when natural gas is burned. The hydrogen can be used as energy,while the carbon is stored as solid graphite, which could then be used in other industries like construction.

In April, the National Research Council of Canada described methane pyrolysisas a "completely new approach." Last year, a methane pyrolysis plant opened in Nebraska, claimingto be "the world's first commercial-scale methane pyrolysis unit."

Werner Antweiler, an associate professor at the University of B.C.'s Sauder School of Business who is currently working on a research paper looking at this type of hydrogen power in international markets, said it's "very exciting" that this project is happening in B.C.

"That is the beauty of the future," he said in a phone interview. "Hydrogen is a tool to allow us to trade and store clean electricity."

Antweiler explained the approach is known as turquoisehydrogenbecause it falls between so-called greenand blue methods of production.

In "blue" hydrogen generation, fossil fuels are burned, and somebut not allcarbon emissions are captured and converted, he said. "Green" hydrogen is the most sustainableand relies entirely on large supplies of renewable energy.

Currently, the dominant way of making hydrogen energy is nicknamed "grey" hydrogen, whichburns fossil fuels such as coaland has a high environmental price tag.

Antweiler sees most promise in turquoise hydrogen, but the downside is that it's costly to produce.

He said the pilot project planned for Port Moody could improve the technologyand, hopefully, help bring its costs down.

"This is really the Holy Grail of making it economical," he said.

"We hope, long term, we can scale it up and make itmuch cheaper than it is today. So it is a pilot project for that reason, but we expect the demand for hydrogen to grow in the future.

"And that is something that would be groundbreaking territory."