RENEWABLES ENBRIDGE GAS LAUNCHES FIRST HYDROGENBLENDING PROJECT IN NORTH AMERICA
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algary, AB-based Enbridge Gas Inc. has announced that North America’s first hydrogen-blending project is now fully operational in Markham, ON. Hydrogen blending involves injecting clean hydrogen into the delivered natural gas to reduce its carbon footprint, in this case up to two per cent by volume of the natural gas supplied. According to Enbridge, the innovative technology will supply green gas and lead to larger made-in-Ontario clean energy solutions.
The $5.2-million pilot project is in partnership with Cummins Inc., with support from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, the Canadian Gas Association and NGIF Capital Corporation. The project involves enhancements to the existing Markham Power-to-Gas facility built by Enbridge and Cummins in 2018 to allow it to store surplus electricity as pure hydrogen until needed. The project will eliminate up to 117 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, without impacting the market cost of natural gas. “Zero-carbon hydrogen is now playing a role in Ontario’s shift to lower-carbon, sustainable energy solutions and is an important example of the investments Enbridge Gas is making across multiple markets to green the natural gas grid while continuing to meet the demand for safe, reliable and affordable energy,” says Cynthia Hansen, executive vice president, and president, gas distribution and storage, for Enbridge. enbridgegas.com/hydrogen
Hydrogen can be blended into Enbridge’s 145,000 km. natural gas system.
Facts & Figures • On October 29, 2020, the Ontario Energy Board approved an application by Enbridge Gas for a project to leverage the Markham Power-to-Gas facility in order to pilot the blending of renewable hydrogen gas into the existing natural gas network, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Through this pilot project, Enbridge Gas will initially
provide a maximum hydrogen blended content of up to two per cent by volume of the natural gas supplied to approximately 3,600 customers in Markham, ON in Q3-2021, eliminating up to 117 tons of CO2 annually from the atmosphere.
• The pilot project will not impact the standard market cost of natural gas.
• The hydrogen-blending project construction cost was $5.2M.
• The Markham Power-to-Gas facility was commissioned
in 2018 through a partnership between Enbridge Gas and Cummins Inc., which acquired Hydrogenics in 2019, with support from the Province of Ontario. Since then, the facility has provided regulation services to the IESO to help balance electricity supply and demand, and ensure system reliability.
• The plant has also proven its potential as a solution to
the challenge of storing the province’s surplus electrical energy using Enbridge’s existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure or in the form of pure hydrogen, which can later be reconverted back to electricity.
For more information on blending hydrogen, see Jonathon Harp’s article Is hydrogen entering the NG mix? in Mechanical Business March 2021 at mechanicalbusiness.com. Harp also addressed hydrogen and electrification in Mechanical Business January/February 2022, p66. M e c h a n i c a l
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