Port of Belledune signs 'green hydrogen' deal with Europe’s largest seaport

The Port of Belledune has signed a ‘green hydrogen’ agreement with one of the world’s largest seaports.

The northern New Brunswick port and the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday, at the World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam.

Denis Caron, CEO of the Port of Belledune, says the agreement allows the New Brunswick port to make ‘offtake agreements’ with firms purchasing or producing ‘green hydrogen’ between North America and Europe.

“It allows us to have direct contact with those companies and it’s clearly a supply and demand type of initiative,” says Caron, in an interview from Rotterdam.

The Port Authority of Belledune announced a plan last summer to develop a so-called “green hub” by 2027, pending assessment outcomes.

Caron says the project, which would develop a hydrogen facility powered by green-certified energy to produce and export ammonia fuel, is budgeted between $1.2-billion and $1.5-billion.

“It’s a scale comparable to other projects happening around the world,” says Caron. “In addition to that, New Brunswick will have to build up its renewable energy grid.”

The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the largest in the world outside of East Asia.

The Port Authority of Belledune has similar agreements in place with two ports in Germany (Wilhelmshaven and Hamburg). The Rotterdam agreement has been in the works for about a year.

“These are really the three MOUs that are critical,” says Caron. “Rotterdam is a gateway into Europe, but of course there is a huge demand in Germany as well, so we wanted to make sure we cover those bases.”

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