BC Hydro has a goal of adding 50+ remote communities to its service territory by 2017.  Most of these communities are currently served with diesel generators.  Diesel generators are reliable, but the price of the diesel fuel itself is escalating, and it has adverse environmental impacts from its emissions. BC Hydro therefore has a strong interest in exploring renewable generation from sources such as wind, small hydro, photovoltaics or ocean energy in remote communities to provide clean, reliable and stable priced electricity.  The challenge with renewable generation, however is that its dependable capacity may be low.  Hydrogen and other storage technologies show promise in helping to improve the dependability of renewable power, while also reducing the cost of service.
The Hydrogen Assisted Renewable Power (HARP) project is now underway and is a hydrogen/renewable hybrid energy system that promises to reduce the dependency of remote communities on fossil fuels by increasing the utilisation of available, local renewable energy resources. The system is comprised of hydrogen production (electrolysis), hydrogen storage (compressed gas), power generation (fuel cell) and an energy management system (i.e., Smartgrid).
The HARP project will supplement renewably generated power in the non-integrated community of Bella Coola on the central coast of British Columbia using hydrogen. The project will generate hydrogen at times when there is a surplus of renewably generated electricity at BC Hydro’s generating station, Clayton Falls and then use it as fuel to generate electricity during times of peak or deficit, using a hydrogen fuel cell. Surplus hydrogen will be used to fuel a 4-wheel drive, internal combustion engine truck for use by the station personnel.  The project will also use proprietary Smartgrid software to control the HARP system, as well as enhance the efficiency of the operation of the existing diesels.