The transition from fossil fuel generation of electricity for Nova Scotia has to be planned and executed with an eye to developments in other parts of the world that may be able to serve energy markets with greener solutions than LNG or hydrogen produced in Atlantic Canada.
Joan Baxter reports that the Nova Scotia government is going all-in on “green hydrogen,” but a leading analyst says hydrogen is “starting to look like an economic bubble.” Leigh Collins, reporting for Hydrogen Insight on the speech of Bloomberg New Energy Finance founder Michael Liebreichto to hundreds of hydrogen professionals.
He [Liebreich] then read out recent “hyperbolic” quotes from both German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — who said that hydrogen will create a “huge boom” and replace the natural gas used today for industry, heating and fuels — and UK energy secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, who described H2 [hydrogen] as a “silver bullet” that can use excess wind power to produce green hydrogen that will heat Britain’s homes.
The view that hydrogen is a silver bullet or a Swiss Army knife capable of decarbonising everything from heating to transport to heavy industry and power generation is “dangerous,” Liebreich said. “This leads us into bubbles.” (Baxter, 2022)
Joan Baxter reports, in The Guardian, that the EverWind project in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, involves two phases. The EverWind website claims it will use local wind power supply for carbon neutral fuel production. But asked where those supplies would come from, company founder and CEO, Trent Vichie answered in mixed messages.
NSPC spokesperson Jacqueline Foster said five new wind projects will go into operation in Nova Scotia by 2025. At that point, she said wind energy will account for about 30% of the province’s electricity supply.
Vichie said EverWind’s supply would not come from any of those projects. Other wind developments “didn’t make the cut”, and some suppliers “didn’t bother to bid” on the province’s recent call for proposals. “So there are projects that are ready that aren’t being built,” he said.
But even by 2030, NSPC’s deadline to eliminate coal, the utility still expects only 80% of its supply to come from renewables. In 2025, hydrogen and ammonia produced with NSPC grid power would rely on an electricity mix that includes coal and 30% wind energy.
EverWind environmental affairs advisor Ken Summers said the Point Tupper operation will be “powered off the grid” in the “immediate term and for quite a while”. He noted that environmental assessments for wind projects are a long process, so the project would not be powered initially by wind farms.
The hydrogen from the EverWind plant won’t be “really 100% green until it’s all renewable power”, he added. (Baxter, 2022)
A recent briefing in The Economist, advises that India, one of the world’s most polluting countries. is investing heavily in clean tech. Prime Minister Modi has declared it a “national mission” to develop “green hydrogen”, a clean fuel made using renewables which could help decarbonise industries that remain stubborn polluters the world over.
India’s entire generation capacity, both clean and dirty, is currently only 400gw. So Mr Modi wants to build a whole second grid’s-worth of green power in just eight years. To reach that goal, India will need to invest some $500bn in clean energy and improvements to the grid, according to an estimate by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (bnef), a research firm. (Will India Become a Green Superpower?, 2022)
Vijay Vaitheeswaran, global energy and climate innovation editor, for The Economist, reports the global hydrogen race is hotting up, and 2023 looks to be a make-or-break year.
Environmentalists love that “green” hydrogen can be made with renewable energy in electrolysers—devices that use electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. This has sparked a global rush to manufacture them, with around 600 proposed projects, about half of them in Europe….
Just how durable this latest wave of enthusiasm for hydrogen will prove to be should become clear in 2023. A global recession could slash funding for novel technologies as companies cut capital expenditure and investors grow risk-averse. Supply-chain disruptions could also spoil things. They have already forced itm Power, a pioneering British firm, to roll back plans to scale up its production of electrolysers. And as countries respond to the energy shock they may prioritise security of supply, from dirty sources such as coal, over new technologies that can help tackle climate change. The biggest force pushing hydrogen forward will be government money in America
One telltale sign will be how many of those electrolyser projects actually go ahead. Andy Marsh, chief executive of America’s Plug Power, a pace-setter in the industry, predicts that global electrolyser sales will shoot up from almost zero a few years ago to $15bn in 2023. Bernd Heid of McKinsey, a consultancy, believes the first gigawatt-scale green-hydrogen project will get the go-ahead next year. Bloombergnef (bnef), a research firm, reckons electrolyser shipments will rise from 1gw now to 2.4-3.8gw in 2023, mostly in Asia.
But there is much enthusiasm about green hydrogen in Europe too. “Europe has been pregnant with a lot of projects but will finally give birth in 2023,” says Daryl Wilson of the Hydrogen Council, an industry body. (Vaitheeswaran, 2022)
The climate emergency has accelerated projects that use “clean hydrogen” to transition electrical generation from fossil fuels. Nova Scotia may risk investment in “stranded assets” as legitimately “green” hydrogen from India may be the best choice for Europe and the planet.
References
Baxter, J. (2022, October 19). Analyst: “green hydrogen” is a bunch of hot air. Halifax Examiner. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/province-house/analyst-green-hydrogen-is-a-bunch-of-hot-air/
Baxter, J. (2022, October 26). Nova Scotia touted its huge 'green' energy plant. Turns out it's powered by coal. The Guardian. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/26/nova-scotia-green-energy-plant-coal-powered
Vaitheeswaran, V. (2022, November 14). Hydrogen hype is rising again—will this time be different? The Economist. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2022/11/14/hydrogen-hype-is-rising-again-will-this-time-be-different?utm_campaign=a.23worldahead_fy2223_q3_conversion-cb-dr_prospecting_global-global_auction_na&utm_medium=social-media.content.pd&utm_source=faceboo
Will India become a green superpower? (2022, October 20). The Economist. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/10/20/will-india-become-a-green-superpower
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