Project Overview
Approved for funding through ERA’s Natural Gas Challenge in 2020, ATCO aimed to introduce a hydrogen-blended gas into a subsection of the Fort Saskatchewan community to demonstrate hydrogen as a safe and effective fuel source. By project completion in 2024, ATCO was successful in introducing a five percent hydrogen-natural gas blend to customers, representing Canada’s second hydrogen blending project.
Blending Hydrogen into Natural Gas Distribution Network
ATCO Gas and Pipelines Ltd. is a regulated natural gas distributor that provides natural gas services to over one million customers across Alberta. Integrating hydrogen with energy delivery systems as a pathway to decarbonization has seen success in parts of Europe and is novel to Alberta. Because combustion of hydrogen emits only water, blending hydrogen into natural gas reduces the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of the natural gas stream. The project committed ATCO to blend five percent hydrogen by volume into the Fort Saskatchewan natural gas distribution system as a step towards large-scale hydrogen utilization and decarbonization of the natural gas supply.
Hydrogen Blend Delivered to Residential Customers Trial
ATCO developed an in-house designed, hydrogen blending station that receives hydrogen and natural gas, controls the flow, pressure, and blend percentage to deliver a blended hydrogen-natural gas mixture downstream of the station. Installing the hydrogen blending station occurred over a three-month period and included piping modifications on the natural gas distribution system to allow isolation to the trial customers and provide tie-in points. The blending station was commissioned successfully via a tube trailer supply of hydrogen and verified through gas sample collection points downstream. The project delivered blended fuel to approximately 2,100 customers in Fort Saskatchewan in Q4 2022, demonstrating hydrogen as a safe and reliable energy carrier. This marks the first project to blend above two percent, following Enbridge’s hydrogen blending project in Markham, Ontario.
The project faced challenges in procuring and commissioning the permanent hydrogen production source. Although delayed, the project procured a 1-Megawatt Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Electrolyzer for the blending station, which aims to combine grid power and municipal water supply to generate hydrogen.
During the project, ATCO completed extensive stakeholder outreach and communication, including door-to-door conversations with local customers, hosting site tours with regulatory leaders, and numerous speaking engagements. ATCO work collaboratively with the CSA Group (formerly Canadian Standards Association) and its members to clarify that existing standards and product certification remain valid for natural gas containing up to five percent hydrogen.
What’s next?
ATCO has embarked on additional projects to further the hydrogen initiative in Alberta, such as commissioning the Energy Discovery Center, a partnership to develop a hydrogen boiler unit, and a partnership with Qualico Homes to assess residential hydrogen energy systems. ATCO plans to continue to develop the hydrogen blending initiative and hopefully deliver blended fuel into the pilot community within two years, and potentially indefinitely. ATCO continues to build partnerships across Canada and globally towards reducing emissions and low-carbon solutions. The cost of delivered energy to customers in this application remains a challenge to further implementation.