Belgium looks to Nova Scotia to help deliver green hydrogen to Europe

Nova Scotia is being looked at as a major export partner of a green energy hub in Europe.

A Belgian delegation led by the country's ambassador to Canada along with other industry leaders is in Halifax, exploring opportunities to partner in Nova Scotia to import green hydrogen as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels.

"I think Canada and basically the entire European Union and Belgium, we all have the same agenda, we want to go to a net-zero economy and so it makes sense to look at how we can work together," said Patrick Van Gheel the ambassador of Belgium to Canada.

Nova Scotia and Belgium want to be leaders in renewable energy and share the same commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, but it means they'll need to push ahead in the face of market uncertainty.

Belgium and Nova Scotia already have a strong trading relationship. After the United States and Germany, Belgium is Nova Scotia's largest trading partner.

Van Gheel says they are looking for green hydrogen coming from Canada, whereas they have expertise in offshore energy development and can help with infrastructure development and strategy.

"We don't create our own gas in Belgium but we do export," said Van Gheel. "We have this infrastructure where we want to be this hub for green hydrogen and export across Europe."

Belgium is on a mission to find green energy partners to not only import for themselves but for all of Europe.

Wim Dillen, the international development manager at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, says they are putting the infrastructure in place to be Europe's premier hub to access renewable energy like green hydrogen.

"Because Europe can not produce it itself, this is something we have to prepare for," said Dillen. He sees a partnership with Canada and Nova Scotia as an economic partnership in energy trading but also one in protecting the environment by pivoting away from fossil fuels.

"Climate change is hitting us and we need to preserve the world not only for us but for future generations to come," said Dillen.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has created an urgency to develop more green energy solutions at a faster pace, as Europe and other markets have turned their back on Russia as an energy trading partner.

"It has accelerated an agenda," said Van Gheel, and created a sense of urgency as well. "If it wasn't for the brutal attack of Russia on Ukraine we wouldn't have had to go at the speeds that we are now."

On Tuesday, Nova Scotia's Department of Environment and Climate Change approved EverWind Fuels' proposal to create a green hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Point Tupper, N.S. It's the first independent green hydrogen and green ammonia project in North America to earn environmental approval.

EverWind says construction of the $6 billion facility will begin this year and is set to be in production by 2025 and will deliver 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen and ammonia per year. The company already has a contract to supply green hydrogen to Germany as part of a federal trade agreement.

"As a first mover in Atlantic Canada, EverWind is establishing a globally competitive clean energy hub, unlocking the immense local, national, and international opportunities presented by green hydrogen and green fuels,” said EverWind CEO Trent Vichie.

“Furthermore, it creates the foundation of a new industry in Canada and Nova Scotia that will lead the green energy transition."

Nova Scotia's minister of natural resources and renewables says this signals that the province can be a leader in renewable energy.

"We found out pretty quick that people are very interested in Nova Scotia," said Minister Tory Rushton. "We have some of the greatest offshore wind and some of the deepest ports, so we can export this product. It's a game changer for our economy."