Major clean hydrogen fuel plant to be built on North Vancouver waterfront

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

The largest clean hydrogen fuel production plant will be built on the industrial waterfront of North Vancouver District, as the result of one of the largest industrial real estate deals this year.

Vancouver-based hydrogen supply firm HTEC has reached an agreement to acquire ERCO Worldwide’s sprawling 19-acre industrial waterfront property at 100 Forester Street — just east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

As part of the deal, ERCO will lease back a portion of the land from HTEC over the long term to continue its sodium chlorate production, which is a process that creates hydrogen.

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Sodium chlorate is used for making cosmetics, dyes, explosives, herbicides, pharmaceuticals, paper, and other chemicals. For each tonne of sodium chlorate created, about 56 kg of hydrogen is made as a byproduct through electrolysis.

HTEC’s acquisition of the property allows it to carry out its strategy of building a clean hydrogen plant to capture, purify, and process ERCO’s byproduct hydrogen. Its new plant will have the capacity to produce up to 15 tonnes of clean hydrogen fuel per day to meet the growing global market demand for low-carbon transportation fuels.

Site of 100 Forester Street, North Vancouver. (Google Earth)

“Entering this agreement is a significant milestone for our company and validates our growth in the hydrogen industry. The planned project will be an important enabler in the deployment of hydrogen applications in BC and the Pacific Northwest and will generate significant regional environmental and economic benefits,” said Colin Armstrong, president and CEO of HTEC, in a statement, noting that this grows their company’s pre-existing relationship with ERCO.

Ed Bechberger, the president and CEO of ERCO, added, “This strategic agreement with HTEC greatly improves our energy efficiency and facilitates the capture of an existing hydrogen stream supporting our commitment to sustainability.”

The value of the property acquisition was not disclosed, but the latest assessed value pegs its worth at $96.4 million, with $89.7 million for the land and $6.7 million for the structures. Records also show the property previously changed hands in February 2021 in a deal worth $95.6 million.

The deal is expected to be finalized in March 2023, and if all goes as planned, the hydrogen plant will be completed and operational by late 2025.

The North Vancouver project is one of several hydrogen production facilities that HTEC is building in BC to provide fuel for the growing network of hydrogen fuelling stations. Their first hydrogen production facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.

HTEC hydrogen production plant. (HTEC)

In September 2021, HTEC secured a $217 million joint investment from Chart Industries and I Squared Capital. At the time, it was stated that this significant funding would go towards HTEC’s new clean hydrogen production projects and to expand its hydrogen fuelling station portfolio serving both the light-duty and heavy-duty markets.

IHTEC has already built several hydrogen fuelling stations in partnership with 7-Eleven at their retail and gas station locations

Both the Canadian federal government and the BC provincial government have mandated 100% of new light-duty vehicle sales be zero-emission by 2035, with BC already making major progress in transitioning towards its own legislated target. However, to date, an overwhelming majority of zero-emission vehicle sales are battery-electric models.

The market for hydrogen vehicles is growing, especially with the unmet high demand and growing price for new battery-electric vehicles. So far, there has been stronger uptake in hydrogen vehicles for freight and other commercial transportation operations.

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