(Calgary / Canada) – The Canadian transcontinental railway company Canadian Pacific (CP) will receive a grant of 15 million Canadian dollars (10,5 million euros) from Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA). The company wants to expand its program for the use of hydrogen-powered locomotives and increase the number of tractors to be converted from one to three.
CP receives the matching 50/50 grant from ERA’s Shovel Ready Challenge program. This builds on the $15 million that CP already wanted to invest in the development project in 2021. The date at which the projects will be implemented was not mentioned. However, Keith Creel, President and Chief Executive Officer of CP, is “excited to see a hydrogen-powered locomotive in CP’s freight operations in the near future.”
Train refueling with green and blue hydrogen
The funding is also intended to expand the infrastructure. A fueling facility in Calgary will utilize an electrolysis plant powered by green electricity from solar arrays at CP's headquarters. The Edmonton plant includes a small methane steam reforming system that produces hydrogen from natural gas reserves in the western Canadian province of Alberta. This system will be designed in such a way that it can be supplemented with a system for capturing greenhouse gases.
In December 2020, CP announced that it would develop and build North America's first hydrogen-powered locomotive, using fuel cells and batteries to power the trains' electric motors. With the funding now granted, CP wants to convert another mainline locomotive and a shunting locomotive.
Competence center for freight rail systems
The CP program for hydrogen locomotives is intended to demonstrate and evaluate the technical performance of hydrogen-powered locomotives and refueling infrastructure in real-world operation. Important experience would be gained that would be incorporated into commercialization and future developments. According to CP, the program in Alberta will “create a global center of excellence for hydrogen and freight rail systems.”
Emissions Reduction Alberta is a government-sponsored institution that, for 2009 years, has invested carbon levy revenues from major Canadian industries to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative clean technologies. Since its inception in 821, ERA has committed approximately $221 million to 2030 projects that help reduce greenhouse gases, create competitive industries and create new business opportunities in Alberta. These projects are estimated to result in a cumulative reduction of 42,3 million tonnes of CO2 per year by XNUMX.
Photos
Computer representation of CP's hydrogen locomotive. © CNW Group/Canadian Pacific
