‘Alberta’s next great opportunity’: Province releases Hydrogen Roadmap

Alberta is looking to open a new chapter in being a global energy supplier with the release of the province’s Hydrogen Roadmap.

The plan, announced on Friday, looks to have hydrogen implemented into industrial processes, commercial and residential heating, power generation and transportation.

Premier Jason Kenney announcing Alberta will look to be exporting hydrogen by 2030.

WATCH: Premier Jason Kenney and Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity Dale Nally reveal Alberta’s Hydrogen Roadmap

“Alberta is home to the natural resources, the technology and the expertise needed to become a major supplier of clean hydrogen to markets around the world,” Kenney said. “This vision is about making Alberta one of the world’s leading hydrogen producers and hubs in this massive future energy product.”

Kenney says the global hydrogen market is predicted to be worth upwards of $2.5 trillion by the year 2050.

“With enormous demand expected from global economies looking to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen has the potential to be Alberta’s next great opportunity.”

With this, Kenney hopes Alberta can become one of the world’s biggest suppliers of hydrogen production, and the process will “be creating billions of dollars of investment and tens of thousands of high paying jobs for Albertans.”

Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity, Dale Nally, said this is a sign that the province is serious about diversifying the economy and the energy sector.

McNally says they have identified four additional markets for clean hydrogen.

They include industrial processes, commercial and residential heating, power generation and transportation.

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“When we included hydrogen as one of the key growth areas in the natural gas vision and strategy last year, it was not expected that hydrogen would be adopted at this pace.

“However the speed that we’ve seen companies flock to Alberta, to take advantage of the hydrogen opportunity, shows that not only are we on the right track, but we’re creating a space that investors can thrive in.”

Nally says so far the province has already seen a great level of interest from the province’s largest energy producers.

“Earlier this year, Suncor and ATCO announced a multi-billion dollar project to produce more than 300,000 tons of hydrogen per year in Alberta’s industrial heartland,” explained Nally.

He adds Air Products also plans to build a $1.3 billion blue hydrogen plant in Edmonton.

“This is going to be the largest net-zero hydrogen energy complex in the world.”