Hydrogen is the fuel of the future, and the future of hydrogen is in Canada... This is what the organizers of the Canadian Hydrogen Convention 2024, which took place in Edmonton, Alberta, on April 23-25, 2024, emphasized.

And indeed, it is hard to disagree with such a position, given that Canada now has more than 170 companies producing hydrogen cells and is one of the world's leading producers of the raw material. Since hydrogen technologies, as well as its production, are also developing with great success in Poland (Poland is one of the leading producers of hydrogen; our production is 1 million tons per year, which puts us in fifth place in the world), the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) ) organized a hydrogen mission in which representatives of our Institute - Krystian Wójcik and Jarosław Zacharski - took part.

PGI-NRI delegates (Jarosław Zacharski and Krystian Wójcik) at the opening plenary session of the conference,...

...and at the fair at the Polish stand organised by PAIH together with a representative of Canada's indigenous peoples (Chief Marcel Head - Shoal Lake Cree Nation)

The Polish delegation, as part of the PAIH hydrogen mission, brought together 15 entities from the world of science and business (including PESA, EcoEnergyH2, mPower, PGI-NRI, PW and AGH). This strong Polish representation was supported by the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda and his chancellery, Polish and Canadian diplomats and government representatives, and the Canadian Polish community with their presence. Moreover, as befits a well-organized diplomatic mission, on Monday, the day before the official start of the conference, there were meetings and visits not devoid of some gallantry - including: an economic seminar with key representatives of the Polish and Canadian hydrogen sector, or a visit to Government House, where we were hosted by the Prime Minister of Alberta.

Participants of the economic seminar organized by Edmonton Global in cooperation with PAIH and the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association in the presence of the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda (source: www.ppresident.pl)

Prime Minister of Alberta Danielle Smith and President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda with representatives of PGI-NRI at Government House in Edmonton

The Canadian Hydrogen Convention, co-organised by Edmonton Global, Air Products and the Alberta Provincial Government, was attended by more than 100 exhibitors, 2,500 delegates and more than 8,000 participants. The task of the PGI-NRI delegation was to establish foreign cooperation in the field of hydrogen geology - the search for natural hydrogen accumulations in the Earth's crust (so-called white hydrogen), and to exchange experiences and ideas on the possibilities for underground storage of this resource.

Especially in the last aspect, Canada has a lot of experience, which, exceptionally, should be taken literally here - in the laboratories of Alberta Innovates (InnoTech Alberta and C-FER Technologies), among other things, strength experiments are performed on the materials used for hydrogen storage and drilling. These solutions should be used as a first step in the possible construction of underground hydrogen storage facilities in salt caverns in Poland.

However, the two countries have more in common in the area of hydrogen geology. Common challenges yet to be faced include resolving the genesis of natural hydrogen occurrences, which in both Poland and Canada accompany oil and gas accumulations. However, does hydrogen form stand-alone commercial accumulations? Perhaps this question will soon be answered by PGI-NRI working with Canadian partners.

Visit of Polish delegates to Alberta Innovates laboratories

The exhibition stand organized by PAIH as part of the hydrogen mission was visited by, among others, President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda (source: www.ppresident.pl)

We also extend our sincere thanks to the PAIH staff: Romi Jaszczyński, Grzegorz Gałczyński and Michael Dembek for their invitation, comprehensive assistance and on-site support.

Text: Krystian Wójcik, Jarosław Zacharski