County soon to wrap initial involvements in hydrogen development

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland County’s contribution to the Calgary regional hydrogen hub is anticipated to wrap up in the early months of the new year.

The Chief Administrative Officer’s report, presented to council on Nov. 4, noted that ongoing recommendations from a report, dated Feb. 21, 2023, continue to be implemented. 

Discussions have been ongoing with PrairiesCan on Wheatland County’s participation and funding in the Calgary Hydrogen Hub. 

“Our general manager of community development services, Sherry [Baers], has been working with the hydrogen hub. It is ongoing,” said CAO Brian Henderson, noting via his report that a decision is expected soon.

Baers noted that council should anticipate seeing a final draft in the new year, and to conduct a stakeholder meeting sometime also in early 2026. She suggested the county’s involvement is likely to come to a conclusion within the first quarter.

“We are working through a grant that we received through PrairiesCan and are working with the Calgary economic group for the Calgary regional hydrogen hub, and out of that, there is a portion for Wheatland alone to look at our own opportunities as a producer of hydrogen and Calgary as a recipient,” she said. “We are in the final stages; we will be holding a stakeholder meeting and we are required under the task that we do a local stakeholder meeting at the end of November for all of the producers that might have had interviews with Transition Accelerator, who is writing the document for the county.”

Hydrogen-based energy investments have been under discussion locally since August 2022. At the time, a stakeholder meeting with the Canadian Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association introduced the idea of hydrogen as a viable investment. 

Alberta was previously noted to produce slightly upwards of four million tonnes of hydrogen per year, being the largest producer of hydrogen in Canada.

This production, however, was in 2023, noted to be almost exclusively steam-methane reforming, which has a very high carbon footprint.

Wheatland County made its mark on the hydrogen industry in March, with the official opening of the new low-carbon hydrogen energy hub in Calgary. 

The hub follows the same model which had been implemented first in Edmonton for its own regional hydrogen hub.

A presentation made to county council in October had presented the initial findings from the Calgary regional hub and discussed long-term viability. 

At the time, it was emphasized during the report that hydrogen utilizations include heating, blending into natural gas systems, and for fuel.

Reeve Scott Klassen suggested revisiting the topic of the hydrogen hub during a future committee of the whole meeting in order to allow for more time to discuss the county’s next steps in more detail.

(With files from the Strathmore Times)