This Spring I had the fortune and honour of traveling far and wide on behalf of econext, representing the the interests of the association’s members and (hopefully!) those of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In April I had the chance to speak on panels at both the Hydrogen East and SmartEnergy conferences in Halifax. Then it was Edmonton later in the month for the Canadian Hydrogen Convention. In May I was in Rotterdam for the World Hydrogen Summit, and last week I spoke on a panel at the Canada-UK Business Summit in London.
At the Canada-UK Business Summit sharing the stage with Moderator Jaspreet Grewal, Florian Villaumé (Tech NL), Shelly Petten (Oceans Advance), and Victoria Belbin (Atlantic Canada Aerospace and Defence Association).
From Western Canada to continental Europe, our province is becoming recognized for its major clean energy developments – namely the six wind-to-hydrogen projects being pursued and the NL-Quebec MOU to develop/augment the Upper Churchill hydro resources. Whether it’s wind or water (or a combination of both), these projects are at scales which put Newfoundland and Labrador at the forefront of the global energy transition. Plus: critical minerals!
Through these past couple of months, there were a couple of things I have taken away that I think are worth sharing.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s export-oriented clean energy industry is not the norm in Canada
First, within the Canadian context, our province is fairly unique in that much of the clean energy development being pursued is for export. The Canadian conversation at large is focused on the adoption of clean energy and clean fuels, whereas the opportunity in Newfoundland and Labrador is predominantly production for trade purposes*.
Premier John Hogan at the World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam. An impressive showing given he was sworn in only ~10 days prior!
Given that the nature of the projects we are seeing in NL are different from elsewhere in Canada, we have to be deliberate and determined in advocating for this industry nationally – because nobody else can or will. A good analogy for this would be our oil and gas industry. Sure, there’s oil and gas production elsewhere in Canada… but nobody else does it offshore. Our clean energy industry is evolving differently as well, and will need bespoke supports to make it thrive. We need to be loud about this.
Uncertainty in Newfoundland and Labrador is outweighed by unshakeable confidence in Europe
The advancement of wind-to-hydrogen projects in our province have not taken place at the speed which many were predicting some years ago. This has bred some uncertainty within the province about the whole enterprise.
But when in Europe, the adoption of hydrogen technologies is a foregone conclusion. It is not a debate. In fact, some jurisdictions are doubling down on previous commitments. Europe wants green hydrogen and – learning lessons from relying too much on one source (Russia) for energy in the past – wants a diverse array of suppliers. They are counting on Canada to be one of those suppliers, and that means Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mark Hunter (GovNL), myself, Jenna Broders (North Atlantic), and Susan Wilkins. Let’s hope econext‘s next CEO takes a better picture than I do.
There is infrastructure that needs to be built and pricing challenges that need to be addressed. With time and hard work, these hurdles will be overcome.
When you’re in the middle of something that is brand new, progress feels like it takes an eternity. In retrospect, much has been achieved in just a few short years. Yes, a lot of work still needs to be done. But the fundamentals remain: Europe wants clean energy and Newfoundland and Labrador not only has lots of it but has a whole host of other competitive advantages to boot.
Let’s face it: if a Newfoundlander was told in 1975 that one day soon the province would be producing oil over 300km offshore – and then shipping it halfway around the world – I suspect they would have some doubts.
An important year ahead
In the next year we are expecting to see developers advance through environmental assessment and permitting processes. We are expecting to see the NL-Quebec MOU take shape into an agreement. We are expecting concrete (and much needed) advancement for our domestic electricity grid.
Unexpected things will happen. There will be ups and downs along the way, but the underlying conditions continue to position our province favourably.
I suppose the big lesson for me through these recent travels is that the more I am exposed to the exciting things happening throughout Canada and around the world – the more I realize that what is taking place in Newfoundland and Labrador is very special. We are on the cusp of big things here in this province, and it’s important we keep our eye on the ball.
Don’t be shy about Newfoundland and Labrador’s clean energy future. We need the nation and the world to know!
// Kieran
* A couple of caveats with this comment so I don’t get myself in too much trouble. Just to be clear, the economic driver is export. But clean fuels use domestically is still very important for the decarbonization of our economy and Newfoundland and Labrador’s achievement of net zero by 2050. And from an electricity perspective, I definitely don’t want to suggest that we don’t need a lot more electricity for domestic use.
