Sarnia, according to a group of Queen’s University fifth-year engineering students, is an excellent location for the development of a hydrogen generation and storage facility.
In partnership with the Bowman Centre, Iain Kaufman-O’Keefe, Elaine Monteiro, and Alastair Murray presented their project during a Zoom conference.
Sarnia-Lambton will be one of the first “hydrogen centers” in Canada, with hydrogen provided by electrolysis of water and stored in salt caverns.
The commodity could then be sold as is or run through a fuel cell to generate electricity during peak demand hours, according to Kaufman-O’Keefe.
Each salt cavern could store about 200 tonnes of hydrogen, enough to power 5,000 megawatt hours of power.
As jobs are lost and a shift to greener energy happens, Monteiro believes it will be up to regions to use their capital to stay competitive.
If all goes as planned, the group plans to start engaging stakeholders this year and perform site testing in 2022.
In 2023, they expect to obtain regulatory approvals, and in 2024, they hope to expand their relationships with the IESO and OPG.
The site will be built between 2026 and 2029, and it will be operational by 2030.
