WSP to design CP Rail’s hydrogen refuelling facilities in Alberta
September 20, 2022
By CCE
Construction is expected to begin later this year.
Photo courtesy Ballard.
WSP will design two hydrogen production and refuelling facilities for construction in Calgary and Edmonton to support a Canada Pacific (CP) Rail program.
With $15 million in funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), CP announced last year it had expanded its hydrogen locomotive program to include the installation of the facilities to refuel three locomotives. CP subsequently awarded the project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services contract to ATCO Group. In turn, ATCO has awarded the detailed design contract to WSP.
The hydrogen infrastructure at each CP site will include a 1-MW electrolyzer, compression, storage and dispensing for locomotive refuelling. In Calgary, the electrolyzer will be partly powered by renewable electricity, provided by an existing 5-MW solar power facility at CP’s headquarters (HQ). It was announced earlier this year the locomotives will use Ballard fuel cells.
“Low-carbon-intensity hydrogen has the potential to be an integral part of Canada’s clean energy mix in the decades ahead,” explains Satvinder Flore, WSP’s executive vice-president (EVP) for energy, resources and industry. “Our team is proud to play an important role in Canada’s transition to a low-emission economy.”
Construction is expected to begin later this year, with the first hydrogen to be supplied to CP’s locomotives next year.
The project will support retrofitted locomotives, which were previously diesel-powered. Photo courtesy Ballard.
