Planning the World’s Largest Hydrogen Community
Qualico and ATCO have been trusted leaders in their respective industries for decades. Their work on Home Hydrogen reflects their lasting drive to make Albertans’ lives better.
The private sector has an important role to play in enabling a lower-carbon future. Legacy companies like Qualico and ATCO have the expertise and resources to take on ambitious, innovative projects that put new technologies and solutions into practice for real impact. Developing the world’s largest pure hydrogen community right here in Alberta is one of those projects.
Project Partners
The area currently known as “Bremner” is in the northeast corner of Sherwood Park. It has 5,000 acres of land available for development that will house over 80,000 new residents.
As the Edmonton Metro Region’s population grows, the continued development of new homes will be essential to maintain availability and affordability of housing.
This won’t be the first 100% hydrogen community in the world, but it will be the largest. With this community, Alberta has the chance to demonstrate the scale that’s possible with Home Hydrogen and firmly position our province as a place to watch for hydrogen technology and innovation.
The neighbourhood will offer a variety of home types and sizes to accommodate diverse homeowner needs. Natural features of the area, such as Oldman Creek, have been thoughtfully integrated into plans for the new community. This project will serve as a model for forward thinking and sustainable, suburban development that benefits people and the planet.
New Sustainable Homes
Qualico has been working with Strathcona County on plans for the Bremner development over the past two decades. In 2023, Strathcona County Council approved the zoning for the new community.
Qualico and ATCO received funding from Alberta Innovates and NRCan to conduct a feasibility and front end engineering design study for a hydrogen-based home and water heater. That part of the process will culminate very soon with the opening of HomeOne, a demonstration house that shows the new heating appliance in action.
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Process & Timeline
The next step in the process is for the Government of Alberta to update the Gas Utilities Act (GUA) and Gas Distribution Act. To enable Home Hydrogen and hydrogen-heated communities, legislation must be clear to allow utilities to distribute low carbon fuels such as hydrogen to their customers via their pipeline infrastructure.
Construction of the new community is expected to begin in spring of 2025. The HomeOne demonstration house is now open.
