Nu:ionic has partnered with Liberty Utilities to build a pilot hydrogen production plant, capable of producing 2,400kg per day of hydrogen, in New Brunswick, Canada.
Scheduled to be in operation in the first half of 2025, the facility will pilot the blending of hydrogen into natural gas with Nu:ionic’s Microwave Catalytic Reformers™ (MCRs).
The process technology will generate low carbon hydrogen for blending into Liberty’s natural gas distribution system and clean power generation and fuel production for the transportation sector.
Further to that, the MCR™ design also a carbon capture system to produce readily transportable liquid carbon dioxide. Liberty is currently negotiating with hydrogen and carbon dioxide off-takers.
A signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nu:ionic and Liberty will allow both companies to collaborate and demonstrate the use of low carbon hydrogen to reduce greenhouse gases within New Brunswick.
When fully operational, the pilot scale hydrogen blending project is projected to have a greenhouse gas capture capacity equivalent to more than 1,000 acres of forest, and depending on the use of the hydrogen, could potentially result in significantly more greenhouse gas emission reductions.
In parallel with this initiative, the companies are collaborating to obtain funding for project development from federal and provincial organisations.
Gilles Volpé, Vice-President and General Manager at Liberty New Brunswick, says that providing safe, reliable, cost-effective energy solutions – for current and future generations – is central to our purpose of sustaining energy and water for life.
He added, “We are excited to see this pilot’s impact on our community and what we can accomplish through this new project.”
In December 2020, Canada published its Hydrogen Strategy, designed to spur investments in hydrogen production and use, and create partnerships that establish the country as a global supplier of hydrogen.
According to the hydrogen strategy, Canada is one of the top ten global producers of hydrogen today, producing an estimated three million tonnes annually, via steam methane reformation (SMR) of natural gas.
While SMR is not considered a clean hydrogen pathway without carbon capture, Canada is well placed to transition to clean pathways going forward. The country has established production supply chains, primarily in Alberta for fuel upgrading/refining and nitrogen fertiliser production that can be leveraged in the near term.
By 2050, Canada could grow production by a factor of seven to meet domestic demand, producing >20 Mt of low carbon intensity of hydrogen per year, with the potential for significant expansion to meet global demand.
CO2 Summit 2023
Shortages and sourcing challenges are the headline stories everyone’s talking about in CO2 supply. But the whole carbon dioxide value chain is transforming – as this story itself demonstrates.
Applications are not only emerging and evolving but demanding more of the industry and its sourcing too. That calls for new thinking in CO2 storage and distribution, but it also raises questions over the tracking and management of supply chains. How we see CO2 is changing, shifting from waste disposal to a value chain in its own right. This will see the tonnage utilisation of CO2 evolve beyond recognition.
Join gasworld this September as our North American CO2 Summit 2023 assesses the threats, challenges and opportunities ahead in carbon dioxide – how we find it, source it, purify it and deliver it. Learn about the changing face of CO2; the opportunities in direct air capture (DAC); supply chain strategies; carbon credits and legislation; and so much more.
Tickets are selling fast and sold-out early last year, so book your place now. For more information and how to attend, visit https://gasworldconferences.com/conference/north-american-co2-summit-2023-indianapolis/
