Wendy Franks, Ph.D.

Grey hydrogen has powered Canadian refineries and fertilizer plants for decades, and Wendy wants to make the clean version cost-competitive. Three years ago she founded Canadian Power-to-X Partners, drawing on a career spent building clean technology businesses. Her flagship, a 100-megawatt hydrogen facility planned for Sarnia’s industrial corridor, would cut roughly 130,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, equivalent to taking 50,000 cars off the road. It also stands out as Canada’s only electrolytic hydrogen project designed for customers with round-the-clock demand. With initial engineering complete, a site secured, a system-integration contract in place and consultation underway with the local First Nation, Wendy has secured more than $6 million in seed and grant funding, betting Sarnia’s next industrial building block can be a much greener molecule.