A third of the heavy transport sector will have to be supplied with green hydrogen to complete the energy transition, declared the Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, a few days after drawing a line under the majority of projects aimed at developing this new fuel in Quebec.
Accompanied by Prime Minister François Legault, Mr. Fitzgibbon participated Thursday in the announcement of government funding of $ 3 million for a hydrogen train pilot project designed in Germany and running on a battery developed in Ontario.
In a press conference, the Minister affirmed that he does not “really know” what proportion of green hydrogen will be necessary to achieve the objective of neutralizing greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec by 2050, as agreed under international climate change agreements.
“It’s clear to us that hydrogen is going to play a role in transportation,” he said. Probably a third will have to go through hydrogen because the batteries are not available. Secondly, we also concluded that for industrial processes, if we want to make green steel, it will take hydrogen. »
Mr. Fitzgibbon reiterated that Hydro-Quebec cannot provide the electricity needed to meet the demand of all companies that want to produce green hydrogen. However, it is targeting a few strategic projects to which the government could allocate the precious megawatts.
“We won’t do 9,000 megawatts of green hydrogen projects, it’s not realistic, we don’t have electricity,” he said. On the other hand, we are going to support certain strategic projects like that of Alstom. In the short term, we will prioritize projects aimed at local consumption of hydrogen and bioenergy in order to maximize emission reductions here in Quebec. »
The pilot project funded by Quebec will allow Alstom to test its hydrogen train in order to adapt it to North American requirements. It will circulate on the tourist circuit that serves the Charlevoix region from Quebec.
More details will follow.
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