Driving the creation of a hydrogen-based economy

Tilda Hadley

As Net Zero Atlantic’s Project Manager, Climate Change Mitigation, Tilda Hadley takes the lead in ensuring the Atlantic Hydrogen Alliance achieves its substantial energy transition-related goals on time and on budget.

The Alliance is made up of a group of founding partners, including the Port of Halifax, Heritage Gas, Liberty Utilities, Saint John Energy, Atlantica Centre for Energy, Deloitte, econext, and Net Zero Atlantic. Net Zero Atlantic also serves in the secretariat role for the recently established organization.

Tilda is supporting the Alliance team in working to create an economically viable clean hydrogen value chain and enabling the transition to a prosperous low-carbon economy in Atlantic Canada.

“I love learning about new environmental initiatives, and I love learning about how Canada is striving to achieve net-zero by 2050,” she says. “Through this work, I feel like I'm doing my small part at achieving that goal,” Tilda said.

The Alliance was formed to capitalize on two recent Net Zero Atlantic-led studies providing a technical and economic assessment of the role hydrogen can play in Atlantic Canada's energy transition towards a net-zero future. The Feasibility Study of Hydrogen Production, Storage, Distribution, and Use in the Maritimes and the Feasibility Study of Hydrogen Production, Storage, Distribution and Use in Newfoundland & Labrador determined that hydrogen has the potential to be an essential part of the energy mix in Atlantic Canada – meeting up to 20% of energy demand by 2050, while closing decarbonization gaps in sectors where GHG emissions will be difficult to abate.

A chemical engineer with a strong interest in clean energy and environmental sustainability, Tilda is a graduate of Dalhousie University and has diverse experience in areas including bioproducts and research and development.

“For one recent project, I worked with a team to write a white paper on the harmful environmental effects of wet wipes. It was a hot topic during the pandemic because everybody was disinfecting and washing everything,” she says. “Later, I worked as a researcher and project manager on a supply chain project involving a contractor and a consortium of BC’s pulp and paper companies to find a viable supply chain for one of the byproducts from the pulp and paper mills.”

Originally from Victoria, BC, Tilda says her role with Net Zero Atlantic and the Atlantic Hydrogen Alliance appealed to her because of her interest in both  environmental sustainability and project management. She’s excited to be joining the Alliance as work to achieve the organization’s goals gains momentum. As the Alliance moves forward, members are working to complete an Atlantic hydrogen strategy and regional blueprint, identifying and developing key enabling conditions needed to enable hydrogen development in Atlantic Canada, facilitating the creation of one or more hydrogen ‘hubs’ in the region, and developing and executing a communications, engagement and advocacy plan to promote the hydrogen development in Atlantic Canada.

“It’s really starting to ramp up,” says Tilda. “We’re engaging stakeholders who are supporting our efforts to develop a hydrogen-based economy across Atlantic Canada. It’s exciting to see the interest in clean hydrogen growing.”

To learn more about Tilda and her work to support the Atlantic Hydrogen Alliance, reach out to her here.