Minnova Corp (TSXV:MCI), the Canadian gold miner which is now expanding into green energy provision, said this week it had completed the purchase of a partially refurbished 22km, 3-phase 25k Va power line. This connects its PL mining site to the Manitoba electric grid at a sub-station.
The miner confirmed it is expanding its renewable energy strategy to include green hydrogen production. It has reached an exclusive agreement to acquire up to 100% of outstanding share capital of DUMA Engineering, which has designed and tested a new generation of gasification technology able to produce a clean syngas (with higher hydrogen content than existing technologies).
DUMA’s proprietary new biomass gasification can be developed in modules of 10MW, each capable of producing up to 1.4 million kilograms of pure hydrogen and are scalable up to 200MW. Mario Mantaci and Marco Sonnessa, of DUMA will assume leadership roles in Minnova Renewable Energy as Vice-President Engineering and Vice President Business Development, respectively.
Who is DUMA Engineering?
DUMA is a Manitoba-based engineering firm with over 30 years of international engineering design and project management experience. It has designed several technological solutions for the energy, food, mechanical, aerospace and naval industries. It has successfully developed an innovative system to produce green hydrogen from biomass at a competitive cost with the most efficient electrolyser available on the market.
In 2021 DUMA was awarded IRAP funding from the National Research Council of Canada for the development of new technology to reduce CAPEX and OPEX costs associated with biomass gasification for green hydrogen production.
Minnova Corp is focused on the North American green hydrogen and green ammonia market, where it sees demand rising dramatically and the company is in the process of determining the appropriate initial scale and location of a new green hydrogen production facility taking into account existing and new infrastructure requirements for production and distribution.
Minnova Renewable Energy is seeking to position the company as a leading green energy production and clean technology company. Hydrogen and in particular Green Hydrogen is widely considered to be key to reducing global CO2 emissions.
“Our goal is to participate in all aspects of the new hydrogen economy from hydrogen production, conversion/reconversion, storage, and transportation to distribution. Our plan is to accelerate development, minimise risk and initial capital expenditure with first production in Manitoba,” said Gord Glenn, President and CEO of Minnova Corp. “We have been active in Manitoba for over a decade working to de-risk and advance the PL Gold Mine and we understand the opportunities that Manitoba offers for initial green hydrogen production and local industrial, municipal, agricultural, and ultimately retail demand and distribution.”
Initial annual production is targeted at a minimum of 1.4 million kilograms of green hydrogen and will be scalable for rapid expansion as customer demand increases.
Lack of listed H2 opportunities
The move comes while the market is still facing a dearth of listed H2 opportunities. Manitoba, which is where the project is located, has the second lowest cost green electricity in North America. Minnova is targeting its first H2 production facility in southern Manitoba where it can plug into the existing hydroelectricity grid and also into the provincial, interprovincial and interstate pipelines that occur in an area south of Winnipeg.
CEO Glenn told The Armchair Trader this week that the initial step it so procure electrical supply and green H2 offtake agreements with MB Hydro, which controls the natural gas distribution pipelines in southern Manitoba. Minnova will also target Winnipeg Transit, which is switching its bus fleet to battery and H2 fuel cell power. “There are a number of other large natural gas consumers in southern Manitoba that can also be targeted for offtakes for green H2,” Glenn explained.
