Government of Canada Announces Support for Ekona Power Inc.’s Clean Hydrogen Development

News release

July 9, 2024 Burnaby, British Columbia Natural Resources Canada

As nations globally move to reduce carbon emissions and shift to non-emitting forms of energy, investing in clean technologies will help ensure Canada remains a global energy leader. Ultra-low carbon sources of energy such as wind, solar, hydro and nuclear power are key to seizing the enormous economic opportunities that are available to Canadians in all regions of the country.

Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced a new investment of $1 million from the Energy Innovation Program’s Clean Fuels and Industrial Fuel Switching initiative to Ekona Power Inc. This funding will support Ekona in advancing its methane pyrolysis solution for clean hydrogen production from natural gas. Building on the success of a prior program to develop and test Ekona’s xCaliber™ reactor, which was previously supported by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) through its Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada Program, this project will support further development of the reactor and expand Ekona’s Burnaby test facility.

Ekona’s solution converts natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions when compared with other conventional processes used to produce hydrogen. Ekona’s unique pyrolysis reactor uses the principles of combustion and high-speed gas dynamics to dissociate feedstock methane. It is low-cost, scalable and easy to integrate, and it leverages existing natural gas infrastructure to deliver a practical solution that meets the growing demand for clean hydrogen and the needs of Canadian industry.

Ekona’s novel solution has the potential to produce low-cost clean hydrogen while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent. More broadly, it could enable cost-effective, ultra-low-carbon hydrogen gas production from natural gas within the need to capture and sequester carbon dioxide. This project will also help Ekona build and test its pilot plant, validate performance against commercial targets and explore how this technology can be utilized in British Columbia for decarbonizing the natural gas network.

While we continue to foster economic growth and build Canada’s clean economy, significant investments — such as the one announced today — are being made to accelerate the production, distribution and use of clean fuels, including clean hydrogen. These advancements are guided by Canada’s Hydrogen Strategy, which introduced a framework in 2020 to help position Canada as a global supplier and producer of clean hydrogen on our path to net zero by 2050.

Quotes

“Canada is taking important steps to keep being a clean energy supplier of choice as we drive progress toward a net-zero world. Investing in innovations such as Ekona’s provides opportunities to advance Canada’s hydrogen value chain, create jobs and seize the economic opportunity of growing global demand for hydrogen.”

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

“Ekona is a key player in the clean technology ecosystem within B.C. and Burnaby. Local leaders like Ekona are helping to drive us toward a sustainable economy and supporting our net-zero emission goals. We look forward to the continued partnership.”

The Honourable Terry Beech
Minister of Citizens’ Services
Member of Parliament for Burnaby North–Seymour

“Canada’s natural gas resources and infrastructure are critical for meeting tomorrow’s net-zero targets. Ekona’s methane pyrolysis platform unlocks natural gas’s potential for clean hydrogen production without the need for carbon-dioxide sequestration. This made-in-Canada technology offers a viable and near-term solution for using hydrocarbons in cleaner, better ways. NRCan has been an active supporter of Ekona and our technology vision since 2020, and we are grateful for its support.”

Chris Reid
CEO, Ekona Power Inc.

Quick facts

Ekona’s clean hydrogen production plants operate without the need for water, or carbon-dioxide sequestration and use a minimal amount of electricity including renewable sources. These features allow the solution to be placed anywhere on the natural gas network and to leverage existing infrastructure.
Ekona’s pulsed methane pyrolysis (PMP) reactor is integrated with industry-standard equipment for carbon separation and hydrogen purification to deliver a low-cost system. It is also catalyst-free, minimizing electricity consumption and mitigating carbon fouling.
Ekona will deploy its first field unit next year. Ekona Gold Creek is a 1-tonne-per-day (1TPD) Customer Demonstration Plant. It will be deployed at Arc Resources’ Gold Creek gas plant to demonstrate how methane pyrolysis technology can decarbonize upstream oil and gas operations. The plant will be built, commissioned and tested in 2025 for operations in 2026.
NRCan’s Energy Innovation Program advances clean energy technologies that will help Canada meet its climate change targets while supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy. It funds research, development and demonstration projects, and other related scientific activities.
Interest in low-carbon hydrogen in Canada has increased significantly since 2020, with over 80 low-carbon hydrogen production projects announced, representing over five million tonnes of hydrogen production capacity and an economic expression of interest of over $100 billion in potential investment in domestic clean energy opportunities and jobs.
Since 2020, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have published hydrogen strategies, identifying hydrogen as a provincial clean energy priority and describing provincial actions and objectives to realize regional low-carbon hydrogen objectives.
Hydrogen has been identified as a key opportunity area under the British Columbia Regional Energy and Resource Table and features prominently in the recently released British Columbia Regional Energy and Resource Table – Framework for Collaboration on the Path to Net-Zero. The Regional Energy and Resource Tables are joint partnerships between the federal government and individual provincial and territorial governments in collaboration with Indigenous partners — and with input from key stakeholders — to identify and accelerate shared economic priorities for a low-carbon future in the energy and resource sectors.
There are now 13 low-carbon hydrogen production facilities in operation across Canada, able to produce over 3,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen per year.

Contacts

Natural Resources Canada
Media Relations
343-292-6100
media@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

Joanna Sivasankaran
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Canada
Joanna.Sivasankaran@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

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Date modified:: 2024-07-09

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