Atura Power and Plains All American to study underground hydrogen storage
Low-carbon hydrogen will support the net-zero goals outlined in Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Climate Change Plan.
Atura Power and Plains All American have signed an MoU to conduct a low-carbon hydrogen and subsurface storage feasibility study and front-end engineering design (FEED) study related to their existing assets in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
The prospective studies will analyse the technical and commercial feasibility of Atura designing, constructing and operating a 20 MW electrolyser adjacent to its Brighton Beach Generating Station (BBGS) and Plains providing subsurface hydrogen storage service at its nearby Windsor salt-cavern product storage facility.
The stored hydrogen can decarbonise the Ontario economy in applications such as high-emitting industries, heavy-duty trucking, and long-term/seasonal storage of energy for the electricity grid.
The MOU allows for Atura and Plains to investigate the potential for Atura to produce low-carbon hydrogen at BBGS, and for Plains to implement a capital-efficient solution by either converting or expanding some of its existing Windsor salt cavern storage assets to hydrogen storage.
BBGS has direct access to a high-voltage switchyard for the electricity component and proximity to the Detroit River and the BBGS water treatment system for the water component. Plains Windsor storage caverns are located within three-and-a-half km of BBGS.
The feasibility and FEED studies’ commencement is contingent on receiving Canadian federal grant funding, which is expected in Q2:2022.
Chris Fralick, Atura Power President, said, “Investigating sub-surface hydrogen storage at scale in Ontario is a crucial step to realising hydrogen’s full net-zero potential.”
Dan Noack, VP at Plains, added, “Adding hydrogen storage service would align with our existing asset base, business model, and our efforts to diversify our participation in energy evolution in a capital-efficient manner.”
