B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy awards cleantech funding through open call

CICE 2022 Open Call for Innovation Funding Recipients. Left to right: Ashley Callister (CICE), Robert Pinchuk (Parkland), Yemi Adefulu (CICE), Gary Schubak (Ekona), Soheil Khiavi (Hydron), Jessica Verhagen (Hydra), Shanna Knights (Ballard), Patric Ouellette (HTEC), Richard Wing (Corvus), and Edward Chiang (Moment) (CNW Group/B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy)

VANCOUVER — On July 5, the British Columbia (B.C.) Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) announced funding awards from their inaugural Open Call for Innovation, which provides grants to catalyze B.C.-based innovators.

CICE’s first Open Call was launched in January 2022, 90 days following the Centre’s incorporation, inviting innovators with low-carbon solutions from across the province to submit applications. Proposals for each of CICE’s five focus areas were encouraged—Battery and Energy Storage, Bio / Synthetic Fuels, Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), Low-Carbon Hydrogen, and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage—with the objective of accelerating commercialization of game-changing solutions developed by B.C.-based companies.

“We launched this first Open Call for Innovation with the intention of better understanding the opportunity ecosystem and were amazed to be significantly oversubscribed by high-quality projects,” said Yemi Adefulu, Deputy Executive Director of CICE. “We are excited to announce a suite of successful projects while also nurturing those that we could not pursue in this round, but which show great promise for the future.”

Within CICE’s focus areas, selected projects represent a larger vision, with an anticipated long-term impact on the path to a net zero economy. Once commercialized and scaled-up, the projects are anticipated to result in significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions while growing the B.C. economy through job creation and new export opportunities.

• Moment Energy Inc. is developing its proprietary battery management system to enhance the affordability of second-life Energy Storage Systems, and
• Corvus Energy Inc. is redefining battery components for high-speed marine applications to proactively reduce emissions in this hard-to-abate sector.

• Hydron Energy is developing a mobile biogas upgrading unit to demonstrate small-scale RNG production, and
• Parkland Refining BC Ltd. is investigating low-carbon feedstocks for refinery co-processing to decarbonize transportation fuels.

• Hydra Energy is scaling-up hydrogen conversions of heavy-duty vehicles across B.C., including the implementation of a new commercial relationship with a major Western Canadian truck dealership, and
• Ekona Power is producing clean hydrogen through their novel pulsed methane pyrolysis (PMP) technology to help decarbonize natural gas infrastructure, and
• HTEC is building hydrogen technology and supply solutions to decarbonize certain Port of Vancouver operations, and
• Ballard Power Systems, using its fuel cell engines developed in BC, is looking to deliver a first-of-its-kind fuel-cell electric truck to stimulate adoption of zero-emission vehicles.

“The magnitude of opportunities made evident that innovation is originating from both big-name players and smaller-scale entities,” said Adefulu. “It is exciting to see larger companies diversifying their innovation initiatives balanced with smaller organizations looking to commercialize their technologies.”

While the 2022 Open Call for Innovation is now closed, CICE remains open to B.C.-based opportunities that align with its five focus areas through the Directed Innovation pathway.