ATCO EXPLORES HEATING HOMES WITH HYDROGEN TO REDUCE EMISSIONS

Source: | · EMISSIONS REDUCTION ALBERTA · | July 6, 2022

Source: ATCO

Heating your home or business with hydrogen is on the horizon. In a first-of-its-kind project for Alberta, ATCO Gas is conducting a pilot project in Fort Saskatchewan to test a cost-effective way to keep customers comfortable in the winter months with a lower-carbon energy supply.

Their $7.9 million pilot plant is based on a simple premise: blend hydrogen into natural gas. Like natural gas, hydrogen can be locally produced, stored, and easily transported. Unlike natural gas, hydrogen has no carbon emissions when it is burned, only heat and water vapour.

“Alberta is quickly progressing to be a world leader in hydrogen adoption, all heading towards a time when hydrogen is our primary home heating fuel,” said Patrick Bain, Manager, Hydrogen Projects at ATCO. “This project is just the beginning of ATCO’s energy transformation.”

This project is an important enabler for Canada’s future hydrogen economy and strategically supports the rollout of hydrogen blending in the gas distribution system. It also has significant potential to advance the regulatory and commercial environment for the technology and enables Alberta’s natural gas utilities to comply with the Federal Clean Fuel Standard.

Not only will the project create a roadmap for substantially reducing emissions, but it will also bring many benefits to the Alberta economy and ATCO customers. When deployed at a larger scale, hydrogen blending will substantially reduce carbon emissions in the province.