Newfoundland project gets Korean investment

Various media outlets reported on Wednesday that SK Ecoplant of South Korea will invest in a US $4.5-billion green hydrogen project proposed for Newfoundland and Labrador, and set to be one the largest in the world.

The Korean company will spend $50-million to buy a 20 per cent stake in the facility, which is to produce green hydrogen and then covert it to ammonia for export to Europe by 2026.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in South Korea this week, where the announcement was made. Canada signed a green hydrogen supply pact with Germany last year, and already has a separate US $6-billion project to produce the fuel in Nova Scotia.

Hydrogen is made by sending an electric current through water to split hydrogen atoms from oxygen. To qualify as green hydrogen, the electricity must come from renewable sources.

The technology is in its early stages and isn’t yet cost competitive with other fuels.

The Korean company also said it has obtained exclusive rights to engineer, procure and build equipment for the Canadian facility that could be worth about US $1.5-billion.

SK said it will partner with World Energy GH2, a Canadian company behind the proposal.

Plans call for the construction of an onshore windpower plant that would produce 360,000 tons of green ammonia per year. The goal is the production of green hydrogen by March 2025, and green ammonia a year after that.

“Just nine months after the signing of the Canada – Germany Hydrogen Alliance by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and German Chancellor Scholz in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, trade and export discussions continue to advance between Canada and Germany. This investment from SK Ecoplant reflects confidence in the alliance, and also reflects the speed at which this new critical industry is moving,” John Risley, chairman of World Energy GH2, said in a release.