Two hydrogen production and refuelling facilities have been set up by Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and ATCO EnPower. These facilities have been designed to aid in the deployment of hydrogen-powered trains and they will be based in Calgary and Edmonton.

Both of these facilities will include a 1MW electrolyser, compression, storage and dispensing systems. On top of this, the Calgary installation is using renewable power, which is being supplied from CPKC’s existing 5MW solar farm, to power electrolysis.

Whilst this has been occurring, CPKC has now placed an order for a total of forty 200kW fuel cells from Ballard. Since receiving these, the company has been using it to retrofit locomotives in an effort to cut their emissions.

CPKC and ATCO have stated that, ‘The two new facilities are expected to serve as a model for future complementary projects across Canada.’

Executive Vice-President of Projects and Operations at ATCO, Mark Brown, commented, “This advancement marks significant progress in utilising hydrogen as a fuel source for commercial transportation and reflects ATCO EnPower’s commitment to building a sustainable future by providing innovative energy solutions for our customers.”

CPKC Assistant Vice-President Operations Technology, Kyle Mulligan, added, “These fuelling facilities are an important part of advancing the ongoing testing of our hydrogen locomotives and advancing the development of our industry-leading programme working toward a lower carbon transportation future.”