Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Joi Scientific, which has developed technology to produce hydrogen from sea water, will help Canada's New Brunswick utility, NB Power, to tap ocean waters for energy to be used in its grid.
The Kennedy Space Center-based company behind the Hydrogen 2.0 technology is working with New Brunswick power "to create the world's first emission free electric utility," Joi Scientific's CEO Traver Kennedy told UPI.
The technology "uses a high efficiency, high throughput system to liberate hydrogen from untreated seawater" which can be used for hydrogen production "on-site,on-demand," according to a release on NB Power's website.
"New Brunswick could see up to 30 distributed Hydrogen 2.0 production stations deployed for zero-carbon baseload generation," as part of the effort "to develop the world's first hydrogen-powered distributed electricity grid," the release said.
"We are working to develop units that can be deployed in a modular fashion from 10 to 100 MW," Kennedy added.
NB Power currently generates electricity from 12 hydro, coal, oil and diesel-powered stations, with an installed net capacity of 2,853 MW, of which 1,439 MW are thermal, 889 MW are hydro and 525 MW are combustion turbine capacity.
New Brunswick is an area that includes challenging weather and "limited natural resources to generate electricity in the province," so it has developed one of the most diverse generating systems in North America, according to NB Power's website.
The plan is for Joi Scientific's hydrogen production systems to be deployed at multiple distributed stations alongside wind turbines, hydro, and nuclear power to create a net-zero carbon-generating power operation while maintaining low and stable rates," according to the press release.
Both companies will co-develop and test a commercial prototype unit at Joi Scientific's labs at the Kennedy Space Center.
According to the Energy Information Administration, there are several ways to produce hydrogen, such as electrolysis or steam reforming. The electricity used in electrolysis can come from renewable sources such as hydro, wind, or solar energy.
Hydrogen has attracted some attention in recent years as an alternative vehicle fuel with some refueling stations available in California. Most hydrogen-fueled vehicles are automobiles and transit buses that have an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, according to the EIA.
A few of these vehicles burn hydrogen directly. The high cost of fuel cells and the limited availability of hydrogen fueling stations have limited the number of hydrogen-fueled vehicles.
When hydrogen burns, it produces only water vapor.