Quebec company Tugliq Energy is planning a hydrogen train to transport goods for mining industry workers on the Côte-Nord, it has been learned The PressThe cost of the initiative is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars.
“It’s something that’s more than a concept,” confirms Laurent Abbatiello, CEO of Tugliq Energy, when asked about the development of a hydrogen train on the Côte-Nord.
“There are still some strings to tie,” he says, adding that the company is working with partners – including future users of the hydrogen train – to carry out the project. However, he refuses to reveal their names. “We are still in the mining sector, which is a sector in which we have good knowledge, where we know how to work and where we like to work,” he says.
The hydrogen train project would be developed in Sept-Îles. The coastal city is served by two railway lines. The North Shore and Labrador Railway (QNS&L) – owned by the Iron Ore Company of Canada – reaches Labrador via Schefferville. For its part, the Arnaud Railway connects QNS&L to the port of Pointe-Noire, in Sept-Îles.
In the Quebec lobbyists’ registry, Tugliq claims to want to obtain financial support from the provincial government ranging from $10 million to $15 million. This sum could represent more than 10% of the total cost of the project, which “should not exceed $100 million.”
“We know that CO emissions2 in Quebec come largely from transport, and 50% of transport emissions come from heavy transport such as trucks or trains,” says Laurent Abbatiello.
Decarbonization
The locomotive would be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, a technology that produces electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen molecules. “We are not in the business of developing technologies, but rather of studying the context in which we want to use it,” he recalls.
The company has become known in recent years for the partial decarbonization of Glencore’s Raglan mine operations on the Ungava Peninsula in Nunavik. In addition to a three-megawatt wind turbine, Tugliq has also installed a hydrogen loop with an electrolyzer and fuel cells for long-term storage.
Hydrogen “is not a fad” for Tugliq, assures its CEO: “We didn’t get into hydrogen two weeks ago. Our first hydrogen installation was at the Raglan mine, 11 years ago now.”
Tugliq founder Pierre Rivard co-founded and for several years managed Hydrogenics, a manufacturer of fuel cells and products used in hydrogen production, acquired by Cummins in 2019.
The supply would come from hydrogen “produced locally with green energy, by electrolysis,” he said, without revealing the potential producers. A few production projects have been mentioned in recent years, including that of the German company Hy2gen, which obtained a block of electricity from Quebec in June for its hydrogen production project in Baie-Comeau.
Tugliq Energy in brief
- Founded in 2011, Tugliq Energy builds and manages clean energy infrastructure near industrial infrastructures to reduce their dependence on oil.
- Last fall, the Quebec government granted $5 million to Tugliq Energy to support its growth.