Page 5 - NorthAmOil Week 34 2022

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

Canada is aiming
to become a major
producer of cleaner
forms of hydrogen.

pipelines are a contentious issue in Canada, with Hydrogen plans
such projects frequently running into opposi- Meanwhile, a longer-term plan for Canada and
tion, as well as getting held up by regulatory Germany to partner on green hydrogen trade
hurdles. appears more likely to come to fruition as the
Germany is aiming to have phased out Rus- energy transition increasingly takes priority.
sian gas imports by 2024, and no new Eastern Under the partnership announced by Scholz
Canadian LNG project is considered likely to be and Trudeau, Canada would start shipping green
built by this point. Earlier this year, it initially hydrogen – produced using wind energy – to
looked like Europe’s scramble to cut depend- Germany by 2025.
ence on Russian gas could revive plans to build The deal signed by the two countries would
Pieridae Energy’s Goldboro LNG project and also see them co-ordinating policies in order to
repurpose the Saint John LNG import termi- attract investment into hydrogen projects.
nal in New Brunswick for exports. However, “German companies are already signing deals
any momentum seen earlier this year has since to buy made-in-Canada hydrogen,” Trudeau
tailed off, and the only progress being made on said this week in Newfoundland. “There is no
Canadian LNG export projects is on the West doubt the demand is there.”
Coast, where the LNG Canada and Woodfibre This comes as Canada aims to establish itself
LNG facilities are under construction. as a major producer of cleaner forms of hydro- The only progress
This has not stopped Scholz from talking up gen. These forms – green and blue hydrogen
Canada’s potential as an LNG trading partner – are also more costly to produce, and costs being made on
for Germany this week. associated with exports also need to be factored Canadian LNG
“As Germany is moving away from Russian in. But clean hydrogen is also increasingly being
energy at warp speed, Canada is our partner touted as a key part of the energy transition, and export projects
of choice,” Scholz said at a German-Canadian thus plans to establish a supply corridor between
economic conference in Toronto. “For now, this Canada and Germany could gain traction with is on the West
means increasing our LNG imports. We hope the private sector.
that Canadian LNG will play a major role in Indeed, Scholz said Canada had “almost Coast.
this.” boundless potential to become a superpower
However, a Canadian government source in sustainable energy and sustainable resource
was quoted by Reuters as saying that there had production”. Germany, meanwhile, is aiming
been no change to previous plans for Canadian to import “significant amounts of renewable
LNG export projects, and that Scholz was “well hydrogen to decarbonise its hard-to-abate sec-
aware” of the timeline required to build such tors in line with its 2045 climate neutrality tar-
projects. get”, according to the deal signed between the
Nonetheless, Trudeau has been reported to two countries this week.
have indicated that he would be willing to ease The way forward will be challenging, but
regulatory barriers for new LNG export projects there appears to be significant appetite to
if private sector players decide to push ahead move forward – though more for hydrogen
with them. than for LNG.™

Week 34 25•August•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P5