Air Liquide completes world's largest green hydrogen machine in Canada

Industrial gas giant L'Air Liquide SA has brought online the world's largest electrolysis machine of its kind to make hydrogen with hydropower supplied by Hydro-Québec for industrial and transportation markets in Canada and the northeastern U.S., the company announced Jan. 26.

The completion of the 20-MW electrolyzer in Bécancour, Québec, which uses proton exchange membrane technology from Cummins Inc., marks a significant milestone in the scaleup of green hydrogen made from renewable energy resources, rather than conventional hydrogen produced from natural gas and other fossil fuels.

"With this world's first, Air Liquide confirms its commitment to the production of low-carbon hydrogen on an industrial scale and its ability to effectively deploy the related technological solutions," Susan Ellerbusch, CEO of Air Liquide's business in North America, said in a statement. "Hydrogen will play a key role in the energy transition and the emergence of a low-carbon society."

Air Liquide's electrolyzer has twice the nameplate capacity of a 10-MW machine completed in Fukushima, Japan, in 2020 that was previously heralded as the largest in operation around the world. Several large oil companies, gas suppliers and technology developers are building and planning much larger electrolyzers, especially in Europe, where the EU and national governments have set ambitious green hydrogen targets.

For instance, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Vattenfall AB recently said they will team up on an initial 100-MW electrolyzer in Hamburg, Germany.

As part of its hydrogen strategy, Air Liquide is supplying hydrogen in liquid form to industrial customers in Canada and the northeastern U.S. and is working with Toyota Motor Corp. to build out a liquid hydrogen vehicle refueling network as well.

Compared to steam methane reforming of natural gas, the traditional means of making hydrogen, the Bécancour electrolyzer will avoid roughly 27,000 tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of 10,000 cars, according to Air Liquide.