Sask. government ramps up development on potential hydrogen hub
The Saskatchewan government has begun work on a foundation report study ramping up development on a potential hydrogen hub in the Regina-Moose Jaw region.
The Ministry of Energy and Resources, Whitecap Resources and Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) will support the study, developed by the Transition Accelerator and the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC).
The report will provide investors with an analysis of commercial-scale hydrogen opportunities and synergies with carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) infrastructure in the province.
"We're a world leader in CCUS and enhanced oil recovery, which has natural connections to blue hydrogen," Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre said in a release.
"We expect this report to accelerate the private sector's interest in Saskatchewan's emerging hydrogen economy."
These “blue hydrogen” projects the province is eyeing are enabled using CCUS technology.
The release states that the hydrogen market is expanding globally with increasing use in power generation, transportation fuel and feedstock in the chemical industry.
Whitecap Resources and FCL signed a memorandum of understanding to explore opportunities around CCUS, enhanced oil recovery and CO2 transportation infrastructure in October, 2021.
Blue hydrogen captures, stores and reuses CO2 produced in existing industrial processes, such as refineries, and potash and fertilizer facilities.
“With blue hydrogen, we feel if we can capture the CO2 which would otherwise be emitted and use it for something, for example, enhanced oil recovery, that makes the most sense because enhanced oil recovery has a great economic footprint as well as a great environmental footprint,” said Eyre at the announcement.
FCL said hydrogen production is required for what they are currently doing at the core refinery, as well as in the future as they begin to produce renewable diesel at the Integrated Agricultural Complex set to be built in the city.
"The potential for a Hydrogen and CCUS Hub in Saskatchewan is exciting as it would create new opportunities for local industry right here in Saskatchewan," Federated Co-operatives Limited CEO Heather Ryan said. "We know that CCUS will play a prominent role in the future of transportation fuels. The research we are investing in will identify the role that hydrogen production will play in the transition to a low carbon economy.”
FCL added, supporting this project is a step towards their plans to decarbonize and reach their goal of being net-neutral by 2050.
According to Whitecap, these projects will be the first in Saskatchewan to utilize blue hydrogen.
In Sept. 2021, the province announced several new policy commitments to advance CCUS projects, including the opportunity for an infrastructure hub in the Regina-Moose Jaw corridor.
“This CCUS infrastructure will also enable businesses such as potash, fertilizer, steel, renewable fuels, thermal power, heavy transport, municipal transportation and more to reduce their carbon intensity by directly capturing CO2 emissions,” said Adlai Majer, director of new energy at Whitecap.
The province said a hydrogen/CCUS hub in the region could allow for the development of an entire, commercial-scale hydrogen supply and demand chain in Saskatchewan.
The Transition Accelerator (TA) launched Canada’s first two hydrogen hubs in Edmonton’s Industrial Heartland Region and in the southeastern Alberta region. TA is a pan-Canadian charity that, “creates positive, transformational system changes that solve societal challenges while moving Canada to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
The ministry is supporting the TA in carrying out a foundation with a grant of $100,000, boosted by an additional $50,000 in funding provided by Whitecap Resources and FCL.
The report will be completed within the year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Images taken deep inside melted Fukushima reactor show damage, but leave many questions unanswered
Images taken by miniature drones from deep inside a badly damaged reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant show displaced control equipment and misshapen materials but leave many questions unanswered, underscoring the daunting task of decommissioning the plant.
DEVELOPING February inflation rate slows to 2.8% as price growth unexpectedly eases
Canada's annual inflation rate unexpectedly fell to 2.8 per cent last month, amid sharp declines in cellular and internet services as well as slower grocery price growth.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.