Ottawa has announced new funding for two retail hydrogen refuelling stations in the Lower Mainland.
Joe Peschisolido, MP for Steveston–Richmond East, announced Friday that Natural Resources Canada will provide $2 million dollars to the Hydrogen Technology and Energy Corporation, through the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative.
"Our government continues to provide Canadians — including British Columbians — with cleaner travel and shipping options,” stated Peschisolido, in a news release. “We are making strategic investments to make it easier and more affordable for Canadians to choose zero-emission and alternative-fuel vehicles to reduce costs, improve air quality and cut pollution."
The funding is part of the federal government's $182.5 million dollar plan to develop a coast-to-coast fast charging network for electric cars, while also establishing natural gas and hydrogen refuelling stations.
Peschisolido made the announcement in North Vancouver at the Westview Shopping Centre 7-11, the proposed site of the first hydrogen refuelling station on the North Shore.
The B.C. government will contribute an additional $1 million through the Clean Energy Vehicle Program as part of the CleanBC plan, which aims to ensure that all new light-duty cars and trucks are zero-emission by 2040.
“Today's announcement moves B.C. further forward towards building our hydrogen fuelling station network, putting this province on a path that powers our future with clean, renewable energy," stated Bowinn Ma, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, in the release.
The federal government aims to ensure that 10 per cent of the light-duty vehicles sold in Canada are zero-emission by 2025, 30 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2040.
