A new round of provincial funding, which opened on Tuesday, November 4, may help expand Ontario's Hydrogen Hub in Sarnia-Lambton.
The Ford government recently announced a $30 million investment to launch a new round of the Hydrogen Innovation Fund to drive economic growth and strengthen Ontario's clean energy.
While visiting the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries Sam Oosterhoff said the expanded fund is double what was previously available in 2023.
"The first stream of this new investment will provide $15 million in funding from the electricity rate base to support projects that will focus on electricity system benefits," he said. "Things like long-term hydrogen storage, peak demand management, services that will help strengthen the reliability of our electricity grid."
Oosterhoff said the fund's second stream of $15 million will focus on the broader sector.
"Including applications in hydrogen-powered transportation, low-carbon fuel switching and industry, and hydrogen hubs, like I know you're already working on here in Sarnia-Lambton," he said.
Oosterhoff highlighted the benefits of this fund, including job creation and building on Ontario's low-carbon future.
"In a time of global economic uncertainty, we need these hydrogen technologies," Oosterhoff said. "We need to come forward with support to de-risk those investments and help strengthen Ontario's sovereignty and encourage more innovation in this space."
Applications will be accepted for 14 weeks, with a deadline set for February 11. Oosterhoff said each applicant will be able to request up to $4.5 million.
"We want to ensure recipients are able to de-risk some of their projects in their proposals, but we also want to ensure there's substantial private sector investments along the way," he said.
Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP) CEO Matthew Slotwinski said the fund's expansion goes beyond the dollar volume, as it allows hubs to apply for this funding opportunity, which was not accessible to the hub in 2023.
On behalf of Ontario's Hydrogen Hub in Sarnia-Lambton, Slotwinski said SLEP will be looking to submit an application, in collaboration with stakeholders, in order to further expand the low-hydrogen economy.
SLEP will also be available to support others in the community looking to leverage the fund for local projects.
"SLEP would be able to work with companies on their application development as well as be a liaison through to the [Independent Electricity System Operator], which is ultimately delivering on the program," Slotwinski said.
Canadian Hydrogen Association Vice President of Central Canada Maike Althaus applauded the move to advance Ontario’s hydrogen sector.
Althaus said they're seeing a lot of low-carbon developments in provinces such as Quebec and Alberta. In comparison to other countries, Europe continues to be a leader in hydrogen investments.
"I feel like Ontario is on a good [track] but there's definitely work to be done," she said.
While speaking about Ontario-based low-carbon hydrogen projects, Althaus specifically mentioned a pilot project Greenfield Global is currently working on.
"We've been working in partnership with the Sarnia-Lambton research institute for over a year or so to develop what is Greenfield's first in kind pilot plant to produce sustainable aviation fuel from alcohols, whether that's ethanol or methanol, or a mixture of alcohols," said Senior Vice President of Advanced Fuels Tom Teahen.
The project is still in its early stages. Teahen said the pilot will likely run for a couple of years before eventually moving toward commercialization.
"There is an insatiable demand for sustainable aviation fuel in the world now," Teahen said. "There are ambitions for the aviation industry to reach net zero by 2050. It's an ambitious target but in order to do that, you have to have sustainable aviation fuel, and to have sustainable aviation fuel, we have to have clean hydrogen."
While the Hydrogen Innovation Fund may not directly support Greenfield's pilot project, Teahen said it will help them in the sense of supporting projects that are innovative to produce low-carbon hydrogen at price points that are essential for them.
