The British Columbia hydrogen fuel infrastructure company HTEC has opened its first refueling station in the province’s interior and received over $1 million in financial support from the government to do so.
The new Kelowna station was opened on Thursday at a 7-Eleven convenience store in the city. In addition to the new location, HTEC has established a network of five stations throughout B.C. with three in the lower mainland and one on Vancouver Island.
The Kelowna refueling station’s government funding was provided through the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment program from Natural Resources Canada. The company also received an unspecified amount through support from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation and additional funding from the Canadian Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association.
The company says it has dispensed more than 50,000 kilograms of hydrogen through its network of stations and plans to open even more throughout Canada and the United States. HTEC owns a station in California that it says will be opening in the near future.
“This station is a significant milestone for HTEC and for the hydrogen industry in Canada, specifically B.C.,” said HTEC’s President and CEO Colin Armstrong.
Hydrogen fuel is now available in #kelowna. HTEC uses BC’s clean electricity to generate the fuel. Their expansion into kelowna will encourage more people to include this clean energy alternative when buying their next vehicle. https://t.co/Cb0vBKQHC0 pic.twitter.com/NsYmGjhhcS
— Norm Letnick (@NormLetnick) June 30, 2023
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In mid-June, HTEC broke ground for a new hydrogen production facility being constructed in Burnaby that is expected to produce 2 tonnes of the fuel per day and provide enough of it for approximately 4,000 hydrogen fuel cell cars.
The company also announced at the beginning of June that it would be providing hydrogen fuel for the BC Hydrogen Ports Project, which has received $4 million in funding from the provincial government.
HTEC is a privately held company with several stations in various stages of development throughout Canada and the U.S.
A report published last month by Dublin, Ireland’s Research and Markets indicated that the value of the global market for hydrogen refueling stations would increase by US$522.8 billion by 2028.
rowan@mugglehead.com
