Canada and Germany partner in $430 million hydrogen fuel deal

The countries have already each announced a commitment of over $200 million

Canada has announced a new commitment to hydrogen fuel made with Germany, in which the countries will be working together for the clean energy.

The deal is worth a total of $430 million (CAD $600 million)

The announcement was made by Canada’s Federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson.  In the announcement, he confirmed that Canada had already committed CAD $300 million (over $200 million), in the deal split with Germany.

This project has been in the works for almost two years and was secured during a recent tryp made to Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, Canada.

It involves the production of green hydrogen fuel, using wind energy from the Canadian province to power electrolyzers. Germany will then import that green H2 as a part of their aggressive effort to replace their reliance on fossil fuel – particularly from Russia – with clean energy from diversified sources. The idea is to decarbonize while giving the country energy security.

The green hydrogen fuel production will be powered by renewable energy

“Wind right now is perhaps the most cost-effective way to generate electricity,” said Wilkinson. 

The deal itself was originally signed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in August 2022 in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

“Our target is clear – working towards initial exports of Canadian hydrogen to Germany by 2025,” said Trudeau at the time of the signing.

An even split

Germany recently announced that it would be matching Canada’s CAD$300 million commitment into the Atlantic Canada green hydrogen fuel production and export project, bringing the total commitment to invest to CAD$600 million.

“We are one step closer to the first shipment of green ammonia across the Atlantic,” said the Deputy Head of Commission for the German Embassy in Canada, Karina Hauslmeier.

Construction of a $4.32 billion green hydrogen fuel and ammonia production facility is already underway in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, by Everwind Fuels.  The mayor of nearby Port Hawkesbury, Brenda Chisholm-Beaton is looking forward to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the increase in jobs that this installation will bring to the area.

“Well, it’s certainly super exciting. It’s going to benefit our region. It’s going to benefit our province,” said Chisholm-Beaton. “It’s definitely going to create, locally, thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent full-time jobs as the construction phases come to an end.”