Canada supports FEED studies for cleaner energy by HOPA’s partners

Two partnering companies of the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA Ports) have received Canadian funding for green fuel projects in the Niagara Region.

StormFisher Hydrogen has obtained $4.6 million to support a front-end engineering (FEED) study for a renewable natural gas (RNG) production facility at BMI’s Multimodal Hub in Thorold, Ontario.

The initiative supports the decarbonization of Canada’s natural gas system and establishes a hydrogen hub to attract clean energy businesses to the region, including HOPA’s Niagara Port Lands.

Upon the study’s completion next year and the planned construction of a $200-million facility in 2027, StormFisher Hydrogen would combine renewable electricity with biogenic CO2 emissions from local industry to produce 1.25 million gigajoules of RNG annually. The amount can decarbonize the energy supply for 16,000 Ontario homes and businesses.

The federal government has also granted $5 million to CHAR Technologies to support FEED studies to replicate its first-of-its-kind facility in Thorold elsewhere across Canada. Using previous National Resources Canada funding, CHAR Technologies is building a facility at BMI’s Multimodal Hub that will convert woody by-products into renewable energy such as RNG and biocarbon.

With construction set to be completed next year, the new CHAR Technologies facility will use an innovative high temperature pyrolysis (HTP) process to convert woody biomass into two highly profitable green outputs ready for industrial application. The project’s alternative fuels are expected to directly reduce Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30,000 tonnes annually. The diversion of mill by-products from landfills will also reduce indirect emissions by as much as 30,000 tonnes a year. The combined effect is equivalent to removing 18,000 cars off the road.