Why B.C. can’t afford to get hydrogen wrong
Recent project pauses and policy growing pains highlight real barriers—but they also underscore how significant the environmental and economic stakes are if the province gets hydrogen right.
ecent project pauses and policy growing pains highlight real barriers—but they also underscore how significant the environmental and economic stakes are if the province gets hydrogen right.
The Independent CleanBC Review is blunt: British Columbia must better align its climate ambitions, infrastructure readiness and affordability goals if it hopes to achieve net-zero while maintaining competitiveness. The expert panel emphasized that hydrogen should be deployed where it can deliver the greatest emissions reductions, while ensuring that project development, electricity planning, and community engagement move in sync. In particular, the review urged the province to strengthen cross-ministerial co-ordination and to prioritize disciplined public spending that catalyzes private investment—rather than assuming that announcements or memoranda alone will bring capital commitments and shovels in the ground.
Freedom of information documents reported earlier this year confirm the scale of the challenge: at least seven large-scale hydrogen projects in B.C. have been paused or cancelled due to power constraints, high costs and uncertainties about hydrogen or ammonia transport through communities and First Nations territories. The documents also point to weak domestic demand, which limits the ability of developers to justify multi billion-dollar investments originally framed around both export and local decarbonization.
Home to more than half of Canada’s hydrogen and fuel-cell companies, B.C. continues to be a global leader in hydrogen innovation with operational light-duty vehicle hydrogen refuelling stations and light-duty hydrogen powered vehicles on provincial roads today. And despite recent turbulence, the case for hydrogen remains fundamental to B.C.’s climate math. The B.C. government’s hydrogen strategy projected that low-carbon hydrogen could deliver more than half of the emissions reductions needed between 2030 and 2050 in hard-to-electrify sectors such as heavy industry, freight transport, marine operations, material handling and aviation fuels.
This modelling remains broadly validated by both government and independent reviews: B.C.’s net zero pathway will be far steeper—and less affordable—without scalable clean hydrogen options. Economically, B.C. retains unique advantages. Its renewable electricity potential, technical depth in engineering and port operations, and globally recognized fuel-cell and hydrogen innovation clusters—anchored around Vancouver, Prince George and the northeast—create a foundation for world-class hydrogen hubs. As the B.C. hydrogen strategy highlighted, these hubs can integrate production, innovation, local offtake and export corridors, positioning B.C. among a small group of jurisdictions that can credibly capture both domestic and global value chains.
The CleanBC review and recent headlines around project slowdowns should be treated as a mandate for course correction, not retreat. Three forward steps stand out if B.C. wants hydrogen to deliver genuine climate and economic results:
1. Target hydrogen where it’s needed most: Focus scarce clean electricity and policy support on applications where hydrogen clearly outperforms direct electrification—freight trucking along key corridors, port and marine uses, high-temperature industrial heat, and sustainable aviation fuels. Spreading effort across every possible use dilutes impact and credibility.
2. Match electricity, infrastructure, and hydrogen planning: The FOI records highlight that many projects faltered because grid and transmission constraints were not integrated into early planning. Upcoming updates to B.C.’s hydrogen roadmap should explicitly align BC Hydro’s generation and transmission development with hydrogen hub locations and export infrastructure.
3. Build bankable domestic demand: A pipeline of reliable local off-takers—ports, industrial operators, utilities, mines, and fleet owners—will do more to de-risk investment than export memoranda alone. As global markets like the European Union and Japan ramp up their own hydrogen frameworks, B.C. must ensure that local demand forms a competitive backbone for long-term viability.
The CleanBC Review provides a clear chance to refine—not replace—the province’s hydrogen commitment. By clarifying hydrogen’s complementary role alongside electrification, improving co-ordination between ministries and utilities, and fostering Indigenous partnership and public confidence, B.C. can pivot from early turbulence toward disciplined, durable success. The hydrogen sector in B.C. is not asking the province to double down on every first wave project. It is calling for a refined, evidence-based strategy. Now is the time for B.C. to refine its approach to ensure that hydrogen will remain both a pillar of CleanBC and a lasting driver of innovation, climate leadership and economic opportunity.
Bob Blatter is SVP, Business Development at Elemental Clean Fuels. Nicolas Hilario is vice-president of operations and member engagement at the Canadian Hydrogen Association.
