The provincial government says Saskatchewan will have the first commercial deployment using cutting edge technology for a hydrogen production project.
Proton Technologies will deploy its patented process to extract hydrogen from existing oil reservoirs while keeping carbon dioxide trapped underground.
The project employs 14 people in the Kerrobert area with the potential to employ up to 30 people by the end of the year.
Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre says along with extracting hydrogen, it has the potential to repurpose abandoned wells, fields and facilities.
She considers it a win-win, because it’s a low cost structure that produces no emissions.
This is the first, formally approved initiative under the government’s Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive.
SPII is targeting projects related to improving oil and gas recovery, managing environmental impacts, value-added processing, and production byproduct commercialization.