Lighter THAN AIR
Written by Ian VanDuzer
GH POWER’S HYDROGEN FUEL A REVOLUTION WAITING TO HAPPEN.
GH Power is exactly where they are supposed to be. The start-up’s workshop is on the site of the former Stelco Electric Shop near Hamilton Harbour, a building that is tied to our city’s industrial history and innovative future.
For GH Power, that innovation comes in the form of clean, renewable hydrogen power generated by a reactor that is smaller than most cars. Despite its small size, the GH Power reactor packs a punch: it’s capable of generating 2 megawatts of power, enough to power between 800-1800 homes a year. But that’s not the immediate goal of the project, says GH Power’s CFO, Anand Patel. Instead, the reactor is primed to focus on the manufacturing sector for maximum impact.
The key to the reactor’s incredible promise is a revolutionary process that has the potential to reshape most of the major industry in Hamilton.
“We’ve created a technology that’s been able to take the energy and power out of two metals in particular: aluminum and iron,” explains Patel. That’s a major departure from previous methods of hydrogen generation, and its discovery has the potential to jumpstart a localized hydrogen power boom.
Hydrogen has long been viewed as a potential solution to humanity’s green-power crisis. Our civilization is seemingly caught in a Catch-22 of simultaneously needing to generate more electricity – partly to power green technologies – and needing to cut carbon emissions to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. Hydrogen, whose only emission is water, is a leading candidate to solve both issues: in 2022, the U.S. Government announced $7 billion in funding for clean hydrogen exploration; Canada and Germany have embarked on an international pact that would see millions of dollars put towards clean hydrogen production; and Ontario’s provincial government has indicated that hydrogen is a key focus of its green power initiatives.
But most hydrogen production comes from burning natural gas, which is inherently less clean. GH Power, though, utilizes scrap aluminum – widely available in industrial Hamilton – ground up into a slurry to generate incredible amounts of hydrogen.
“We put the aluminum mixture into the reactor, where it’s subject to a high temperature ,” explains Patel. “That creates a very controlled reaction that splits the water molecule to create hydrogen.”
The true magic behind GH Power’s reactor isn’t just in the hydrogen itself – it’s in the byproducts. “There’s a thermal energy release, which is steam” notes Patel. “And we also get aluminum oxide, alumina, which is one of the hardest substances known to man.”
“We use it in LEDs,” Patel starts counting. “Lithium ion batteries. Semiconductors. The glass on your smartphone. It’s incredible.”
GH Power’s reliance on aluminum makes Hamilton a perfect home. “We have numerous scrap metal aggregators close by. Their metals work perfectly in our reactor,” Patel says. “And they’re at a great price point, which allows us to provide cost-competitive alumina and hydrogen.
“There’s more than enough aluminum at the purity levels we need to grow our business locally in Hamilton.”
Quick Notes: Manufacturing Power
The use of aluminum makes the GH Power reactor perfect for all sorts of applications. “Auto manufacturers have tons of excess scrap aluminum as part of their manufacturing process,” Patel points out. “So now, they could turn that scrap into clean power, and heat for their plants.”
GH Power is also working on a variant of the reactor that runs on scrap iron, not aluminum, Patel says. “Here in Hamilton, we have steel mills that have to pay to have hazardous iron dust removed from the facilities. In the future, we could take that iron and give steel manufacturers green energy and iron oxide in a circular economy within their steel manufacturing system.”
Microgrids: “Almost Personal” Power Reactors
The focus is not on providing widespread power, but “microgrids” – generating clean energy for individual buildings or facilities. “We’ve designed the reactor to be modular and scalable,” says Patel. “And it can fit in a small footprint, so it’s really optimized for these purposes.”
Beyond auto and steel manufacturers, Patel sees a future for his reactor in data centres. “These are facilities that require lots of localized, dependable power,” Patel says. “Amazon and Google are pouring money into securing power for their datacenters.”
The Future Tech, Now
Patel notes that the technology to convert hydrogen to electricity is not widespread – yet. In the meantime, though, he sees incredible and immediate potential in his reactor. “Right now, most generated hydrogen gets used to decarbonize industrial processes ,” he explains, in relation to Hamilton’s vast industrial market.There is a growing segment of transportation applications as well. “HSR buses could be refitted to run on hydrogen-natural gas,” Patel says. Meanwhile, GH Power has plans to eventually create a hydrogen fueling station for natural gas-powered trucks that are already using Hamilton as a base of operations.
The Path Forward
But while the promise is there, Patel says that more government support is needed, pointing to a “chicken and egg” situation: “Right now, you don’t have a huge supply of hydrogen, but that’s because there isn’t the infrastructure there to use it. But you don’t invest in the infrastructure because there’s no hydrogen.”
Patel sees the desire to switch to hydrogen, especially close to home. “You have end users with big industrial processes that are under huge challenges to decarbonize,” Patel says. “Hydrogen is a way that they could decarbonize, but at the end of the day, there’s not a way to get them hydrogen in an effective way yet.”
That should change as further investments into infrastructure – from production to pipelines – come through government green initiatives, though. In the meantime, GH Power is focused on creating specialized, local power for those looking to go green.
See what's possible. Bring your discovery to market.
Related Articles
Related
Local Hamilton Leader Receives Life Sciences Community Impact Award
“Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) proudly announces the recipients of the 2025 LSO Awards, celebrating excellence and innovation in life sciences. Now in its 22nd year, the LSO Awards continues its longstanding tradition of recognizing outstanding individuals and companies...
Porter Airlines lands in Hamilton
"Porter Airlines is bringing significant new air service to Hamilton, with four routes launching in June. John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) will be connected coast to coast through daily flights to Calgary (YYC), Edmonton (YEG), Halifax (YHZ) and...
Pedal to the Metal
Enedym’s revolutionary electric motors are set to drive future innovation. Chances are, you do not realize just how prolific or important electric motors are to your daily life. “Electric motors are everywhere,” emphasizes Dr. Ali Emadi, the founder of Enedym –...