Ammonia exports from Canada to Germany
By on September 14, 2022
Two offtake deals, one million tonnes per year
German energy giants E.ON and Uniper have signed agreements to offtake 500,000 tonnes of renewable ammonia each from EverWind Fuel’s under-development project at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia. Powered by onshore wind, EverWind’s ammonia production facility is planned to begin commercial operations in early 2025, at which point exports to Germany will commence. Together, the two MoUs add up to one million tonnes of ammonia per year – the total planned production output of Point Tupper.
The transformation of our industry continues. Therefore, I am pleased that E.ON and Uniper each have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the supply of green ammonia from 2025 on with the Canadian company EverWind Fuels. This is an important step not only to strengthen our bilateral economic relations, but also for a future-oriented and sustainable energy supply.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in E.ON’s press release, 23 Aug 2022
The announcements also included further details for the Point Tupper project, including a phased approach to increase ammonia production capacity to ten million tonnes per year:
EverWind’s initial green hydrogen and ammonia facility is situated on an ideal site…benefiting from over $600 million of [existing] world-class infrastructure, including an existing ice-free deep-water port with two berths that are capable of accommodating the largest vessels in the world. The Facility will…[use] a mix of certified green power from the Nova Scotia grid and onshore wind power. Further phases of the facility will be powered by offshore wind, which enables the production of over ten million tonnes per annum of green ammonia and will be serviced by EverWind’s existing marine infrastructure.
Further details of the Point Tupper project, from Uniper’s official press release, 23 Aug 2022
The Canada – Germany Hydrogen Alliance
The backdrop for these offtake MoUs was a new bilateral agreement signed by the Canadian and German governments. The Canada – Germany Hydrogen Alliance was signed in the presence of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and will establish a Transatlantic Canada-Germany supply corridor for hydrogen-as-ammonia by 2025. The official wording of the agreement also indicates that the two countries will establish a shared certification methodology:
d. to enable the trade of hydrogen and its derivatives between Canada and Germany, the Participants will:
From the Joint declaration of intent between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on establishing a Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance, Government of Canada, 23 Aug 2022
…ii) develop a common methodology for the determination of carbon intensity of hydrogen which can be used to help define what clean, low carbon, and renewable hydrogen are (e.g. through the Clean Energy Ministerial, International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuels Cells in the Economy, and the G7-Hydrogen Action Pact).
The new agreement is also a key driver behind four significant production project announcements last month, all based in Canada’s maritime provinces.