Good afternoon, and hello.
My name is Brent Lakeman. I'm the executive director of the Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub, and I would like to thank the standing committee for this opportunity to contribute to your deliberations on the topic of energy exports.
While I recognize the scope of the committee is significantly broader than just the exports of clean fuels like hydrogen, it is important for the committee to have an appreciation of the challenges and opportunities related to the export of hydrogen to global markets, which were identified in the Canadian hydrogen strategy.
The Edmonton region of Canada plays a very strategic role in Canada's hydrogen economy. Our region has been producing hydrogen for heavy industry applications, like oil refining and upgrading, chemicals production and fertilizer production, for over 30 years. The Edmonton region is home to world-leading, low-carbon hydrogen production projects, starting with the Quest project, which was supported by federal and provincial governments more than 10 years ago.
Through projects like this, our region's leaders identified the opportunity we have to play a major role in the future hydrogen economy. Their vision positioned our region as home to Canada's first hydrogen hub over five years ago. Since then, the region has seen final investment decisions being made on some of the largest low-carbon hydrogen production projects in the world. These projects are enabled by Canada's low-cost natural gas; our carbon capture, utilization and storage infrastructure; and our experienced and innovative workforce.
The Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub looks to build on this track record by creating the conditions to accelerate the use of hydrogen across a diverse range of sectors, including commercial and municipal fleets, heat and power opportunities and emerging industries. The hub serves as an ecosystem convenor, a systems integrator and a policy advocate.
Our partners are the economic development agencies from the region, Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association and Edmonton Global, but also the Edmonton International Airport, which is advancing hydrogen use across the airport ecosystem, and Alberta Innovates.
Our mandate is to build enabling conditions for increased hydrogen use within the Edmonton region across a range of sectors, and we also work closely with our partners to connect domestic producers to export markets. The hub realizes that to de-risk future investments in hydrogen supply and demand, exports need to be part of the equation, just as domestic use of hydrogen is critical for de-risking international export projects.
Several hydrogen companies have also explored the production of hydrogen for export markets. Over the past seven to eight years, the focus has been on the conversion of hydrogen into low-carbon ammonia, or blue ammonia, to serve the Japanese and South Korean markets. These projects were being explored with key players from these markets, such as Japanese trading houses, as well as power production companies looking to blend ammonia into their generation facilities in Asia.
These ammonia export projects, however, have not proceeded due to the complexities and costs associated with transporting ammonia safely out of our region by rail to the port of Prince Rupert. Ammonia, however, is just one pathway for export of our region's clean fuels. Leading global companies, like Kawasaki Heavy Industries, believe liquid hydrogen has several advantages over other clean fuels like ammonia, and it's developing the technologies needed to ship liquid hydrogen across the Pacific Ocean. It's also developing the technologies needed to move liquid hydrogen from the point of production, like the Edmonton region, to the Pacific coast ports.
In fact, just last week at the Canadian Hydrogen Convention in Edmonton, Kawasaki entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub, Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association and Edmonton Global to explore how we can put in place the critical infrastructure to get some of the world's lowest-cost low-carbon hydrogen to the markets that need it the most. Realizing this opportunity, which is intended to serve the post-2035 Japanese market, requires that we start preparing today.
Today, we're realizing the benefits of the LNG investments that started in the 1980s to build the specialized ships and port infrastructure needed to move this product. Establishing the necessary hydrogen supply chain infrastructure from point of production to our export terminals will also take time and require strong and coordinated support from government and industry.
Before concluding, I would like to highlight other ways that hydrogen hubs can support the export of cleaner fuels to global markets.
While we need to get our products to export terminals on the west coast, the east coast and, eventually, even to northern ports like Churchill, we also need to ensure our shipping of products to these ports by trucks and by trains is undertaken in a low-carbon manner. The Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub is working with other hubs to make these connections to ensure our transportation corridors can utilize hydrogen and other clean fuels. We've launched a western Canada hydrogen corridors initiative to do just that. The hub is working with global leaders like Hyundai Motor Company to bring its fuel-cell truck technologies to our major transportation corridors.
We're working with Canada's CPKC to show that Canada's Ballard fuel cells can be used to decarbonize freight rail, and we're bringing hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel technologies developed by Edmonton-based Diesel Tech Industries onto Canadian highways, offering an innovative and low-cost alternative for getting hydrogen used by our transportation fleets.
In closing, Canada is being identified by leading hydrogen-consuming nations, like Japan and Korea, to be a supplier for their energy needs. Today and in the future, hydrogen will play a key role in global market segments like transportation and heavy industry. It will also play a role in how we get our products across Canada so that they can be sent to export markets with a low-carbon intensity footprint.
Hydrogen hubs play a key role in helping to de-risk hydrogen projects, identify future demand and ensure that Canada is working to advance critical enabling infrastructure.
I appreciate having the opportunity to speak to the standing committee and would be happy to answer your questions.