Canada’s first natural hydrogen well drilled in Saskatchewan

A natural hydrogen well has been successfully drilled near Central Butte, marking a renewable energy milestone for Saskatchewan. Jacob Carr reports.

In early November, Max Power Mining Corporation successfully drilled Canada’s first dedicated natural hydrogen well near Central Butte, Saskatchewan.

Incoming CEO Ran Narayanasamy says energy is like a buffet, with every sector playing a role.

“You need nuclear, you need coal, you need gas, you need hydro, you need wind. If you look recently, the power consumption is getting higher and higher, it’s not lower,” he said.

“By 2050 the world population is going to be 9 billion people.”

Steve Halabura, Max Power’s chief geoscientist and an exploratory geoscientist for more than 40 years, says part of what drew him to the company was the chance to explore a new energy resource.

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“Part of being an exploration geologist is that same sort of feeling as when you’re out on a hike and you see a curve in the road and you just want to go around that curve and see what’s next,” he said.

“Part of it is the intellectual challenge, it’s a bit like a chess game. Exploration is a process; the Earth does not give up its resources easily.”

Halabura admits natural hydrogen is new territory, but says the challenges are part of the appeal.

“It’s a way of giving back to the province. If I can play some role in developing a new resource industry that keeps our kids or grandkids busy, or the service and supply sector busy, then I can’t think of anything better to give back to the province,” he said.

Narayanasamy said natural hydrogen could be used to power data centres, potentially saving significant amounts of energy and water.

“Imagine if we can find natural hydrogen and we use it to supply the data centres which are powered by artificial intelligence. It will be a big win for everyone,” he said.

The Max Power team says they have at least six concept sites under consideration for natural hydrogen exploration. Halabura declined to provide details, saying the process is still preliminary.