Hydrogen HUB enters 'activation phase' with new leader
Brent Lakeman is being seconded from Edmonton Global to head the Edmonton Region Hydrogen HUB and shift that project into action mode.
"We call it an activation phase," Lakeman, the HUB's new executive director, who was the director of hydrogen initiative for Edmonton Global before the appointment, told Taproot. "We've done a lot of the techno-economic analysis. We understand the opportunities we have within the region. We've done some work in mobile transportation (and) heat and power opportunities. Now, we know we want to get moving on this."
The HUB launched in 2021 as a joint project from municipalities and First Nations across the region, including founding chair and Sturgeon County mayor, Alanna Hnatiw. Its goal is to advance the hydrogen economy in the Edmonton region. Edmonton Global and The Transition Accelerator, an energy-transition think tank, were founding supporters. The HUB began with $2.25 million from Western Economic Diversification Canada (which has split into Prairies Economic Development Canada and an equivalent in British Columbia), Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association, and Emissions Reduction Alberta.
Lakeman said the expectations and funding agreements from those original funders have been completed, and that the HUB is now shifting into its next phase. "(We want to) really ground it in our economic development opportunities we have within the region," he said.
What that means, Lakeman said, is that organizations including the Heartland Association and Edmonton Global will now drive the HUB — though just how the organization will be structured is not something he will share just yet. When it comes to activation, Lakeman said fuel cells for vehicles and new uses for hydrogen are things to keep on top of, but there's an immediate opportunity for "companies that don't always think of themselves as a hydrogen company" to be engaged.
"I think about what we've done, historically, in oil and gas and all that manufacturing and fabrication that goes on to support those projects," he said. "Maybe we can be part of some of these emerging hydrogen opportunities. It's not necessarily a dramatic pivot, in some cases, to start manufacturing equipment for these transportation systems that we might see, because we will be an early mover, and I think there's maybe some early mover advantages to start getting our companies prepared."
Manufacturing for the hydrogen industry was the focus of a recent symposium in Nisku, co-hosted by the HUB. Companies with existing work in hydrogen sent speakers. Among them were Aurora Hydrogen, which recently shared an update on a novel demo facility; Diesel Tech Industries, which showcased the world's first Class 8 truck powered by cryo-compressed hydrogen with Verne in the fall; and Calgary's Innova Clean Tech, which works on both hydrogen and graphite, and is building a pilot facility in Sturgeon County.
One ongoing project the HUB works on is the 5,000 Hydrogen Vehicle Challenge, which kicked off in 2023. Its goal is to get 5,000 hydrogen- or dual-fuel vehicles on the road in Western Canada by 2028. Lakeman doesn't have an exact figure on the present number, but pointed to Air Products, which is building hydrogen refuelling stations along major transportation routes, as a sign of progress.
Not every refuelling station succeeds, however. Last March, the City of Edmonton scrapped its plans for one. That same month, the first commercial hydrogen refuelling station in Alberta opened at Blackjacks Roadhouse in Nisku, with funding from PrairiesCan and fuel provided by Nikola Corp.'s HYLA brand. However, on Feb. 19, Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a little over a year after its founder was sentenced to four years in prison in New York for fraud related to the company's technology.
"We're watching Nikola, we're in communication with them," Lakeman said. "At this point in time, I don't think that that (Blackjacks) station is really being able to be operational, unfortunately."
