Renewable Hydrogen Canada (RH2C), based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is planning to produce renewable hydrogen (RH2) through water electrolysis powered by renewables (wind and hydro). Our first project, Sundance Hydrogen, is a joint venture among FortisBC, RH2C, and Macquarie Green Investment Group (GIG) and will feature a world-scale RH2 plant.

The goal of the Sundance Hydrogen project is to reduce the carbon intensity of the natural gas British Columbians consume by injecting RH2 into the province's natural gas transmission system. The project is ready to go pending approval by regulatory authorities. Work is underway at national and subnational levels around the world to determine safe hydrogen injection concentrations for natural gas transmission and distribution networks. Stay tuned for updates on expected project timelines.

RH2C is pleased to announce a second project named Pacific Hydrogen Canada. Situated at a deepwater port on the BC coast, the project will be a major supply point for the export of RH2 to the US, Japan and Korea. Details of the project will be announced in the very near future.

In addition, RH2C has established a new entity in Manitoba named Renewable Hydrogen Manitoba. The project is focused on producing RH2 for export to Europe. Again, more details will be announced soon.

Government as Catalyst

Click here to learn how the Government of Canada is supporting the RH2C sector. 

Click here to learn how the Government of British Columbia is supporting the RH2C sector. 

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World-Scale Renewable Hydrogen (RH2) Plants
Electrons to molecules

Northeastern BC has an extraordinary wind resource

​Along the flat-topped foothills that parallel the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains in northeastern BC west-southwest winds blow strong and steady throughout the year. These ridges are sources of wind energy like few places on earth. According to a draft of BC Hydro's 2013 Integrated Resource Plan, 19 of the province's best wind farm sites are located there.

Aeolis Wind Power and its partners have several very large, energetic wind farms sites in the area currently awaiting development. Thunder Mountain Wind Project, a joint venture between Aeolis and Evolugen, has a planned installed capacity of approximately 500 MW. Two other projects with other partners are of an equally large size. Collectively, the three projects have a potential installed capacity of 1500 MW.

​Given the scale and quality of this resource, along with recent advances in wind turbine and blade technology, the region has potential to produce thousands of MW of wind power—at highly-competitive rates and ultra-low carbon intensity levels. Further, this energy can be firmed by BC Hydro infrastructure in the region.

The cost of renewable electricity accounts for 75% of the production costs of RH2 through water electrolysis. Given the amount and cost of wind power in northeastern BC, BC Hydro's firming capacity, the nearby pipeline infrastructure and the access to markets, there may be no better place for large-scale, electrolysis-based RH2 production.

Artist rendering of Thunder Mountain Wind Project in northeastern BC

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Large-scale electrolysis has come of age

Electrolysis is by far the most commercially mature method for producing RH2. It involves passing a current through water to break it down into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen. 

On an industrial scale, there are two main electrolysis methods:

• Alkaline water electrolysis;
• Polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis (PEM).​​

Leading manufacturers of both alkaline and PEM electrolyzers now offer turnkey, pre-fabricated, skid-mounted electrolysis modules that: 

• Increase the scalability of the electrolysis process; 
• Reduce the capital cost of production infrastructure.​​​

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Electrolyzer modularization, combined with near-optimization of electrolyzer efficiency, represents a sea change in RH2 production. 

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Artist rendering of a 120 MW alkaline electrolysis array (image courtesy of thyssenkrupp)

Generic layout of a PEM electrolysis cell (image courtesy of Siemens)

Multi-stage reciprocating compressor

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Vancouver needs RH2

In 2015 Vancouver implemented its Renewable City Strategy, which requires that:

• By 2030 carbon emissions be 50% below 2007 levels, and that the city derives 55% of the energy it uses from renewable sources;
• By 2050 100% of energy consumed in the city be derived from renewable sources.

Vancouver's strategy is complemented by the BC government's 2016 Climate Leadership Plan that mandates a 40% reduction in GHG emissions over 2007 levels by 2030. This strategy was reinforced in 2018 by the BC government's CleanBC plan, which outlines actions to achieve the above emissions reductions goals, including:

• ​Financial supports for deployment of fuel cell vehicles and infrastructure;
• Support for centralized hydrogen production;
• Injection of RH2 into the natural gas grid, with the goal of making the gas supply 15% renewable.

​FortisBC supplies Metro Vancouver with natural gas for heating, cooking, and industrial uses. A small percentage of this gas is methane captured from decomposing organic waste at farms, landfills and other suppliers. It's called biogas and is considered renewable. 

FortisBC is seeking new sources of renewable natural gas (RNG), but few large ones exist. Click here to read more.

​The only way FortisBC can significantly reduce the carbon intensity of the natural gas it supplies to Metro Vancouver is to blend it with RH2 to create hydrogen-enriched natural gas (HENG). Injecting 120 MW worth of H2 into the main natural gas line in northeastern BC would be equivalent to reducing the volume of natural gas consumed in Metro Vancouver by 10%. FortisBC has determined that, using existing infrastructure, HENG with up to 10% RH2 could be supplied without the need for infrastructure or equipment modification or safety compromises.

HENG is the first step. Pure RH2 is the second. It's only a matter of time.

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Ideal production sites

​RH2C has secured well-situated production sites for all three of its current projects.

• The Sundance Hydrogen plant in northeastern BC will be near several world-scale wind farm sites, the province's largest hydro dam and Enbridge's 2,818-km natural gas pipeline that extends to the US border near Vancouver.
• The Pacific Hydrogen Canada plant will be proximate to a firm source of renewable electricity and a deepwater port for shipping hydrogen to markets in North America and Asia.
• The Renewable Hydrogen Manitoba plant will be adjacent to a rail line and a source of CO2 for the production of renewable methanol, which can readily be railed to Montreal and then shipped to Europe.

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Indigenous participation

Several First Nations in the region support the proposed fuels projects as they stand to derive significant benefits from them, including:

• Greenhouses: Sundance Hydrogen is planning to provide First Nations in the region with a large piece of land near the Sundance Hydrogen site on which to build an extensive array of greenhouses, and to supply these greenhouses with recovered heat from electrolysis. Called Sundance Produce, this operation would make possible, on a large scale, the production of organic produce for distribution throughout western Canada, including the north. This proposal represents a tremendous entrepreneurial and employment opportunity for First Nations;
• Equity partnerships in wind projects;
• Indigenous job creation in construction and operation of both wind and fuel projects;
• Indigenous skills and training.

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"We must all obey the great law of change. It is the most powerful law of nature."

— Edmond Burke