The Uniper logo is seen in front of the utility's firm headquarters in Duesseldorf, Germany, on July 8.WOLFGANG RATTAY/Reuters
EverWind Fuels, a private developer of sustainable hydrogen and ammonia production in Nova Scotia, says it has signed a memorandum of understanding for Germany-based Uniper to purchase green ammonia from the company’s production facility in Point Tupper, N.S.
The companies have an offtake agreement for 500,000 tonnes a year of green ammonia.
EverWind says it has an offtake agreement with the German company E.ON Hydrogen, a wholly owned subsidiary of the energy company EON, for about the same amount of ammonia a year.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will sign an accord in Stephenville, N.L., today aimed at encouraging exports of hydrogen to Germany. Germany sees hydrogen as a primary long-term replacement for Russian natural gas and as a way to meet its goal to fulfill all its electricity needs with supplies from renewable sources by 2035.
Point Tupper is described by EverWind as a multiphase green hydrogen and ammonia production and export facility, “which is in advanced stages of development and is expected to reach commercial operation in early 2025.”
Nova Scotia LNG contract no longer a focal point for Germany’s Uniper
The construction of the ammonia facility is expected to begin in 2023, EverWind advisor Ken Summers told The Globe. The facility will produce green hydrogen and convert it into green ammonia using a mix of certified green power from the Nova Scotia electricity grid and onshore wind power.
Further phases of the facility will be powered by offshore wind, which enables the production of more than 10 million tonnes a year of green ammonia and will be serviced by EverWind‘s existing marine infrastructure.
In a statement, Uniper CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach said one of Uniper’s major goals is “the effective decarbonization of other industries as well as its own, while still being able to provide security of supply.” The EverWind project is a “very promising opportunity to source green ammonia based on excellent conditions and governmental relations to support the endeavour.”
The project began when Trent Vichie, CEO of EverWind, purchased a former oil storage facility in the Point Tupper Heavy Industrial Park, near Port Hawkesbury. Mr. Vichie has invested more than $100-million to date of his own funds, including the purchase of the terminal.
An initial $1-billion in capital will be necessary to get the facility running, which will include adapting the shipping terminal to load ammonia tankers. EverWind has filed a project description for an environmental assessment with the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change, with the intention of opening the green-hydrogen production facility in 2025.
The company plans to build wind turbines that will generate electricity that will then be used to create hydrogen and ammonia, which is easier to transport than hydrogen, through electrolysis. Since the electricity used to separate the hydrogen molecules from ammonia would be generated from a renewable source, the gases would be considered green.
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