Newfoundland wind-to-hydrogen company eyes data centre as international market lags

A company hoping to build a massive wind-to-hydrogen energy project in western Newfoundland is eyeing other options as Canada's plan to supply Europe with green hydrogen energy have not yet come to pass. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A company hoping to build a multi-billion-dollar wind-to-hydrogen project in western Newfoundland is eyeing other options as Canada's plans to supply Europe with green energy have not yet materialized.

Led by seafood mogul John Risley, World Energy GH2 is developing a concept for what it calls a "renewable energy campus," which would use fuel produced from its operations, a company spokesperson confirmed in a recent email.

As first reported by news outlet allNewfoundlandLabrador.com, the campus would harness power from the planned wind turbines to power a data centre aimed at artificial intelligence companies.

"As the commercial-scale green ammonia market is taking longer to develop than expected, there are other opportunities for renewable energy that can combat climate change on a larger scale," company spokesperson Laura Barron said in a recent email.

World Energy GH2 is angling to become Canada's first commercial green hydrogen operation, but it has competition. Its Project Nujio'qonik includes plans for a plant in Stephenville, N.L., that would produce hydrogen and convert it to ammonia for shipping. Several onshore wind farms would power the plant.

It is one of at least four wind-to-hydrogen proposals registered with the Newfoundland and Labrador government for consideration, though it is the only one approved so far. The project has met with opposition from some western Newfoundland residents concerned about their region's delicate ecosystem.

German officials flew to Stephenville in 2022 to sign a commitment with Canada to create an alliance that would see Canadian-produced green hydrogen shipped to German buyers by next year.

That goal may be too ambitious, said Amit Kumar, an engineering professor at the University of Alberta.

It's still too expensive to produce green hydrogen in Canada and convert it to ammonia for shipment to Europe, where it would be converted back into hydrogen, Kumar explained in a recent interview. Each step in that process adds cost.

It will likely be at least another decade before the technology improves enough -- and the proper infrastructure is built -- to make green hydrogen produced in Canada cheap enough for German buyers, he said.

"We have not developed the infrastructure to export it, to convert it, to liquefy it -- either we liquefy it or convert it to ammonia -- and to export it to Germany," Kumar said. "I think it's going to happen, but it will take time."

He agreed that a data centre powered by wind would likely make economic sense in the meantime.

In a recent email, the Newfoundland and Labrador government said it had not been formally advised of any data centre plans by World Energy GH2. Any such plans would need government approval, said a spokesperson for the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology.

Tom Rose, the mayor of Stephenville, said he, too, has not been informed of any data centre plans. However, he said he has met with companies interested in data centre opportunities in the region, given that World Energy GH2's plans to develop renewable energy there.

"The economic footprint of where (artificial intelligence) is going, and its impact on on the globe, it's just growing and growing and growing," Rose said in a recent interview. "And here we are with an opportunity to have that data being driven by the best, greenest energy hub region in North America."

Stephenville is home to roughly 7,300 people and a local College of the North Atlantic campus. Rose said he has no concerns that World Energy GH2 may not be able to find enough skilled workers for a data centre.

"I think it'll be no problem to attract expatriate Newfoundlanders, people who want to immigrate into Canada and work in Stephenville, from all parts of the world," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2024.