The British Columbia government says a $900 million project to create a network of hydrogen production plants and vehicle refuelling stations will create nearly 300 jobs and cut greenhouse gas emissions in the province.
The Crown corporation Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) is providing a $337 million loan to support the project by hydrogen company HTEC, which involves plans to build up to 20 refuelling stations for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, 18 of them in B.C. and the others in Alberta.
The CIB and the B.C. government say the refuelling stations will be supplied by three new hydrogen production plants in Burnaby, Nanaimo and Prince George.
They say a facility to liquefy 15 tonnes of byproduct hydrogen will also be built in North Vancouver and the project, called H2 Gateway, will create more than 280 jobs.
The government says 14 of the new stations will be able to refuel up to 300 heavy vehicles per day. It says hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles can travel long distances and have short refuelling times.
WATCH | Is green hydrogen really eco-friendly?
.png)
Green hydrogen has been labelled as one solution for Canada to meet its net zero goal by 2050. CBC’s Frances Willick finds out if green hydrogen is really better for the environment.
Premier David Eby, who was attending the project announcement with federal Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson and other officials, says H2 Gateway represents an economic and job-creation opportunity and a way to reduce pollution.
“We know the cost of inaction on climate change is not just in the price of responding to extreme weather like forest fires,” Eby said.
“Inaction would also cost us new jobs, new investment and new opportunities in growing a cleaner economy. We can’t afford to miss this economic opportunity. That’s why we’re supporting job-creating clean-energy hydrogen projects that will drive new investment and reduce pollution.”
The B.C. government says H2 Gateway could reduce emissions by about 133,000 tonnes a year.
“Producing clean fuels like hydrogen right here in B.C. to replace diesel use for transportation helps to reduce harmful pollution while creating new jobs and opportunities in the clean economy,” said Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Josie Osborne.
More than half of Canada’s hydrogen and fuel-cell companies are in B.C., the provincial government says.