Burrard Hazer hydrogen project secures funding

Hazer Group announced that the proposed Burrard Hazer Hydrogen Project would receive up to C$8 million of grant funding from the province of British Columbia, Canada.

The proposed Burrard Hazer Hydrogen Project is a collaboration between FortisBC Energy Inc. (FortisBC), Suncor Energy Inc. and Hazer Group Limited. The project will be a leading demonstration of the Hazer Process, an innovative methane pyrolysis technology producing low-carbon intensity hydrogen for clean energy, transport or industrial uses and a synthetic graphitic carbon by-product for manufacturing or industrial use.

The project will be located at Suncor Energy’s Burrard Terminal site located in Port Moody, British Columbia. When established, the project will process natural gas feedstock to produce 2,500 tonnes/year of low-carbon emission hydrogen and approximately 9,000 tonnes of synthetic graphitic carbon by-product.

The initial Feasibility Study stage of the project commenced in February. The initial high-level schedule for the project targets a final investment decision (FID) in 2023, with operations targeted to commence in 2025.

Under the terms of the Funding Agreement, the funds will be used to support the pre-FID activities of the project, including the initial feasibility study, front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies, permitting applications and studies, and the assessment of the capacity to blend produced hydrogen into the FortisBC natural gas system.

The grant funding will also include activities related to advancing the Hazer technology, which will build on the work undertaken for the Hazer Commercial Demonstration Project, currently under construction in Perth WA. These include a detailed design for the 2,500 tonnes/year scale reactor and the construction and testing of a prototype version of this reactor at the Burrard project site. The total budget for the pre-FID works is estimated to be C$11.25 million.

Geoff Ward, CEO of Hazer Group, said, “Emerging technologies such as the Hazer process will play a critical role in the successful transition to a low-carbon economy. The support of the government of British Columbia is greatly appreciated as we accelerate the development of the Hazer technology.”