Paul Rodden • Season: 2024 • Episode: 330
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Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!
In episode 330, Canada looks to be making all the right moves when investing in their hydrogen economy, and is Spain setting itself up with their latest subsidies to be the top hydrogen exporting country in Europe? I’ll go over these topics and give my thoughts on today’s hydrogen podcast.
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Transcript:
Canada looks to be making all the right moves when investing in their hydrogen economy, and is Spain setting itself up with their latest subsidies to be the top hydrogen exporting country in Europe? I’ll go over these topics and give my thoughts on today’s hydrogen podcast.
So the big questions in the energy industry today are, how is hydrogen the primary driving force behind the evolution of energy? Where is capital being deployed for hydrogen projects globally, and where are the best investment opportunities for early adopters who recognize the importance of hydrogen? I will address the critical issues and give you the information you need to deploy capital. Those are the questions that will unlock the potential of hydrogen, and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Paul Rodden, and welcome to the hydrogen podcast.
In an article in nuclear engineering international Canada announces funding to advance SMR research and hydrogen technologies. Canadian Minister of Energy & Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson has announced CAD11m ($8m) in funding for nine energy technology projects. This includes CAD2.5m for small modular reactor (SMR) research and CAD8.5m to support innovation in the clean hydrogen sector. The announcement was made during the annual Energy & Mines Ministers’ Conference in Calgary, Alberta attended by federal, provincial and territorial ministers. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) in 2023 introduced the Enabling Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) Programme to support the development of supply chains for SMR manufacturing and fuel and fund research on SMR waste management solutions.
As part of the Enabling SMRs Programme: The University of Regina will receive a total of CAD941,651 over three years to study long-term disposal strategies for intermediate level and non-fuel high level wastes from SMRs within Saskatchewan; and The University of Alberta will receive CAD1,656,000 over three years for its project on additive manufacturing (AM) of next-generation functionally graded materials for use in SMRs. As to hydrogen CAD5m will be allocated to three projects in Alberta selected through the Energy Innovation Programme’s (EIP’s) Clean Fuels and Industrial Fuel Switching call for proposals, including: CAD3,000,000 to Aurora Hydrogen Inc. to advance the use of microwave energy for pyrolysis technology to convert methane to hydrogen and solid carbon with minimal greenhouse gas emissions and no water use;
CAD1,000,000 to Quantiam Technologies for the production of carbon-negative methanol and e-fuels from captured carbon dioxide and green hydrogen; and,
CAD1,000,000 to Innova Hydrogen Corp for zero-carbon hydrogen production via catalytic methane pyrolysis. The remaining four projects, also in Alberta, are funded through the EIP and support the Hydrogen Centre of Excellence, a strategic initiative led by Alberta Innovates. They include:
CAD1,300,450 to ATCO Gas and Pipelines Ltd., in partnership with Qualico, to conduct a feasibility assessment of a pure hydrogen pipeline network to heat new homes in the community of Bremner in Strathcona County, Alberta, including constructing a pure-hydrogen demonstration home;
CAD1,264,550 to Innovative Fuel Systems to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles by developing a hydrogen and diesel dual-fuel retrofit system applicable to 90 percent of heavy-duty engines; CAD508,935 to ATCO Gas and Pipelines Ltd. to develop the Fort Saskatchewan Operating Centre into the first commercial 100-percent hydrogen-heated building in North America and as a demonstration site for end-user heating technologies that utilize pure and blended hydrogen with natural gas; and,
CAD415,000 to New Wave Hydrogen Inc. to accelerate the time of methane thermal cracking for hydrogen production via shock wave heating technology in preparation for successive field pilots. “This week’s announcements are part of a series of significant steps the Government of Canada continues to take to support good jobs and promote sustainable growth, including the launch of the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada Progress Report, Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy and Canada’s founding of the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance last fall, said Jonathan Wilkinson. “I will continue to work with all partners to ensure Canada remains a global supplier of choice for clean energy in a net-zero world.” Okay, so Canada looking to SMR and hydrogen in their efforts to decarbonize.
SMR or the small modular reactors have an amazing upside in their energy generation, but are. Still being evaluated from both a regulatory framework and an economic one, but the upside potential is there. And on the hydrogen side of this report, it sounds like most of the projects involve a type of pyrolysis. And if you’ve listened to this show for a while now, you know that I am extremely bullish on the potential of methane pyrolysis, so the fact that Canada is investing heavily in the technology gives me hope that regulatory agencies outside of Canada and other governmental bodies will see pyrolysis as a great method of generating clean hydrogen from methane. But outside of that, investing in pipeline research carbon negative e fuels and thermal cracking and also electrolytic hydrogen, tells me that Canada is on the right track in evaluating the hydrogen landscape. Next in an article in Reuters, Spain approves 800 million euros of subsidies for green hydrogen projects.
The Spanish government has approved subsidies worth almost 800 million euros ($865.52 million) for major green hydrogen projects, Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said on Tuesday. Spain is vying to be a leader in Europe in green hydrogen – hydrogen produced using renewable electricity – taking advantage of its bountiful sunshine and wind to produce clean energy. The subsidies totalling 794 million euros will go to seven projects deemed by the European Commission to be of regional value and with an overall electrolysis capacity of 652 megawatts, Ribera told reporters. The projects will spur investments of more than 6 billion euros in their lifespan, according to the minister.
The subsidies will support projects that produce green hydrogen close to its consumers, Ribera said. They include projects in five so-called hydrogen valleys in Spain which are large industrial hubs that integrate green hydrogen production and its use, such as in producing fertilizers or powering refineries. Green hydrogen is seen as key to decarbonise Europe’s economy in the future. However, given its cost, green hydrogen projects in general are not competitive without subsidies.
Some 40% of the funds will go to two projects managed by oil company Repsol, opens new tab, each with an electrolysis capacity of 100 MW. Almost a third, or 242 million euros, will go to Spanish utility Iberdrola’s, opens new tab projects in Puertollano in south-central Spain to develop 220 MW of electrolysis capacity. The company, Europe’s largest utility, in March, scaled back its green hydrogen ambitions by almost two thirds after delays in getting funding for some projects, it had announced Spain’s draft climate strategy sets a 2030, target of 11 gigawatts for electrolyzers from previous four gigawatts. Okay, so Spain investing just short of $900 million and increasing their hydrogen production scope from four gigawatts to 11, and with roughly 70% of those funds going to Iberdrola and Repsol on the Repsol side of things, this article mentions two projects, and I’m wondering if one of them is the Bosque country green hydrogen project that they froze last year due to lack of funding.
And one of the main reasons the freeze was there was the oil and gas giants issues with the Spanish government. That turmoil may be over now, with these subsidies now being thrown their way and Iberdrola getting a large amount of funding to take on a 220 megawatt facility in the south, and with the Basque project located in the north, this looks to be a great setup geographically for exporting to Germany. Now, as I covered last week, Germany is looking to import 100 terawatt hours of hydrogen in the next few years. If Spain can get these projects up and running in time to export to Germany, the country could set itself up as a prime hydrogen generating and exporting country in Europe.
All right, that’s it for me, everyone. If you have a second, I would really appreciate it. If you could leave a good review on whatever platform it is that you listen to Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google, YouTube, whatever it is, that would be a tremendous help to the show. And as always, if you ever have any feedback, you’re welcome to email me directly at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com. So until next time, keep your eyes up and honor one another.
Hey, this is Paul. I hope you liked this podcast. If you did and want to hear more. I’d appreciate it if you would either subscribe to this channel on YouTube, or connect with your favorite platform through my website at www.thehydrogenpodcast.com. Thanks for listening. I very much appreciate it. Have a great day.
