Alberta wants more hydrogen vehicles. Experts say fuel infrastructure needs to come with them

Businesses are touting the potential for hydrogen to dramatically reduce green‐ house gas emissions from commercial transporta‐ tion.

But when it comes to get‐ ting more vehicles rolling on Alberta streets and highways, industry officials say they haven't closed the distance yet.

Hydrogen-fuelled buses and trucks were on display at the exhibition floor during this week's Canadian Hydro‐ gen Convention, as more than 8,000 people descended on downtown Edmonton.

Edmonton and Strathcona County each have one hydro‐ gen bus running as part of pilot project. And in January, a hydrogen fuel cell electric truck towing an empty trailer made a round trip between Edmonton and Calgary - a test run that's part of an Al‐ berta Motor Transport Asso‐ ciation (AMTA) pilot to see how hydrogen-powered trucks perform on long-haul trips.

Terri Johnson, the AMTA manager of industry ad‐ vancement, told a convention crowd that the trip took less than two-thirds of the hydro‐ gen tank. The next step is an‐ other test, with the weight of a loaded trailer.

But Johnson told CBC

aNews that there's still work ahead to get more big com‐ panies using hydrogen for their Alberta fleets.

"They're really vetting us as much as we're vetting them," she said.

"They want to make sure that we have mechanics, that we have the bays, that we have fuel supply that's avail‐ able for their specific vehicle - and that when they deploy a truck here in our region, we actually can support the truck."

New hydrogen fuelling network planned for QEII

Regional investment group Edmonton Global is promoting an initiative, launched last year, to get 5,000 hydrogen or dual fuel vehicles operating in western Canada by 2028.

But getting there means working through a big ques‐ tion: Which comes first, the hydrogen vehicles, or the fu‐ elling stations?

The province unveiled Al‐ berta's first commercial hy‐ drogen fuelling station last month, just south of Edmon‐ ton, in Leduc County.

And on Tuesday, U.S.based company Air Products announced plans to build a network of hydrogen fuelling stations between Edmonton and Calgary.

Air Products Canada vicepresident Rachel Smith said multiple sites have been identified for new stations along the QEII Highway corri‐ dor. The company didn't specify how much the project will cost or when it will be completed, but Smith said the plan is to start moving to‐ ward construction as soon as possible.

Smith said each station will be capable of fuelling as many as 200 heavy-duty trucks, or 2,000 cars, every day. The company is cur‐ rently building a massive hy‐ drogen plant in northeast Ed‐ monton.

Alec Cervenka, manager of zero-emissions sales at truck manufacturer Ken‐ worth, said hydrogen invest‐ ments have to be worth it for both the companies making the vehicles and building the infrastructure.

"You have to have the right amount of vehicles to make sure the [fuelling] sta‐ tion can actually be useful and stay in operation," he said.

"The catch is in trying to get the vehicles out there. There's a lot of interest. But compared to a diesel vehicle, it's about four times the cost of a similar diesel tractor."

There are federal incen‐ tives for medium- and heavyduty zero-emission vehicles, and Cervenka said setting a provincial program in Alberta would help more companies make the numbers work.

A spokesperson for Ed‐ monton Global said they ex‐ pect to see the number of hy‐ drogen vehicles accelerate in the coming two years, with

more progress on building fuelling infrastructure.

The Alberta government also rolled out more funding for hydrogen transportation projects this week, with mon‐ ey to test new fuelling sys‐ tems, build infrastructure to support hydrogen-fuelled public transit and help the City of Calgary pilot hydrogen vehicles and equipment.