Hydrogen Canada closes financing, launches blue hydrogen venture

Hydrogen Canada said October 27 it had closed its C$10mn (US$7.2mn) seed round financing and signed a letter of commitment on an offtake agreement with E1 Corporation to develop a low-carbon hydrogen supply chain from western Canada to South Korea and other Asian markets.

Hydrogen Canada’s plan is to develop a world-scale, low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland on the outskirts of Edmonton.

“This project represents an opportunity to use cost advantaged, low-carbon natural gas in Alberta to support the decarbonisation of South Korea and other Asian countries and to provide a level of energy security to those countries as well,” Hydrogen Canada president Bryan Moon said. “Access to cost effective carbon sequestration also creates a material strategic advantage for this project in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland.”

South Korea wants to reduce its carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 as it advances its net zero by 2050 strategy and sees the use of hydrogen and ammonia for power generation and transportation as a key component of that strategy.

It already has one of the largest fleets of hydrogen cars and refueling stations in the world and the government is putting in place long-term plans to support hydrogen and ammonia for power generation.

E1 is a global provider of liquid petroleum gas (LPG), otherwise known as propane, and is the longest-standing supplier of LPG to South Korea.

“This initiative not only reaffirms Canada’s position as a reliable LPG supplier for E1 but also assumes a pivotal role in the supply of clean ammonia and hydrogen to us,” E1 chair JY Koo said.

Initial feasibility studies have been completed by Hydrogen Canada for a facility that would produce about 1mn tonnes/year of low-carbon ammonia and capture and sequester a “significant amount” of CO₂ emissions. Low-carbon ammonia would be transported by rail to Canada’s west coast for export to South Korea and other Asian markets.