The provincial government is back on the hydrogen horse, kicking $870,000 Monday toward a new hydrogen liquefaction plant to be built in North Vancouver.
Locally operated Hydrogen Technology Energy Corp. and Sacre-Davey Engineering are building the plant, which would create 18 jobs and produce liquid hydrogen to power fuel cell buses.
The province said it would be the first small-scale plant of its kind in North America.
“Innovation like this by B.C. companies shows why the province is and will remain a world centre for hydrogen and fuel cell technology,” Premier Christy Clark said Monday.
“We will continue to champion made-in-B.C. hydrogen, electricity and natural gas as clean, green fuels of the future for B.C. families.”
The plant is expected to produce 1,200 kilograms per day of liquid hydrogen or enough to fuel 50 transit buses.
The announcement was made at the opening of the 2011 Hydrogen and Fuel Cell conference in Vancouver.
The province said the plant would help fuel what’s being called the “Green Highway” that will power hydrogen, electric, biofuel and natural gas vehicles from B.C. to California.
A fleet of hydrogen-powered buses is already operational in Whistler. B.C. is considered a world centre for hydrogen and fuel cell technology.
The plant is expected to be operational in late 2012.
Joel McKay