$900M project to build BC hydrogen fuel stations and infrastructure

$900 million project to expand BC's hydrogen fuel stations and infrastructure

HTEC fuel station at a gas station in North Vancouver. (HTEC)

To diversify British Columbia’s zero-emission transportation beyond battery-electric vehicles, the provincial and federal governments are supporting HTEC’s H2 Gateway project to expand hydrogen fuel infrastructure for transportation.

There will be up to 20 hydrogen refuelling stations for fuel-cell vehicles, with 18 stations located in BC and the remaining two in Alberta.

Fourteen of these stations will have the capacity to refuel as many as 300 heavy-duty vehicles per day.

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The fuelling stations will be supported by new hydrogen electrolyzer facilities in Burnaby, Nanaimo, and Prince George.

As well, as previously announced in December 2022, HTEC will construct a major hydrogen production facility at 100 Forester Street on the industrial waterfront of the District of North Vancouver, just east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. The new facility will liquefy 15 tonnes per day of vented by-product hydrogen from ERCO Worldwide’s sodium chlorate plant in the area.

“The initiative agreements that we have under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard are integral to the success of our fuelling network in BC, which includes hydrogen production facilities and fuelling stations,” said Colin Armstrong, president and CEO of HTEC, in a statement.

“Ambitious, transformative projects like H2 Gateway would not happen without a strong strategic and foundational partnership like the one we have with the Province of BC.”

The entire project carries a total cost of $900 million, with the provincial government providing $133 million in support through BC’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the federal government providing a $337 million low-cost loan through the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

“Producing clean fuels like hydrogen right here in BC to replace diesel use for transportation helps to reduce harmful pollution while creating new jobs and opportunities in the clean economy,” said Josie Osborne, BC Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.”

According to the provincial government, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles can travel long distances and require relatively short refuelling times.

In 2018, Vancouver-based HTEC opened Canada’s first public hydrogen refuelling station at the Shell gas station at 8686 Granville Street in South Vancouver.

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