John Risley says he doesn’t mean to be critical of the province’s environmental assessment process, but the current slow pace and uncertainty could threaten the viability of his company’s green hydrogen proposal at Stephenville.
Risley, a director with World Energy GH2, notes a similar project was approved much quicker in Nova Scotia.
He’s urging the province to simply adopt a similar policy and assess its project as one, instead of in three stages.
John Risley, a director with World Energy GH2 Inc., which is behind a green hydrogen proposal for the west coast of NL, speaks during Atlantic Business Magazine’s resource development conference in St. John’s. @VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/Byv3rgKtr8
— Brian Callahan (@briancallahan67) September 8, 2022
Meanwhile, Risley all but took credit for landing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Stephenville last month.
On VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly, he said his company “found out” in mid-June that Scholz was coming to Canada to discuss LNG or liquid natural gas. That was two months before it was announced publicly.
Risley says the company contacted the German Embassy with info on green hydrogen, and an invite to its expo in the west coast town.
He says they were able to convince the German delegation that instead of just the ballrooms of Toronto and Montreal, they should see first-hand what’s happening on the ground to help offset the green energy needs of the future.
As for the World Energy GH2 project, Risley insists they will commit to any reasonable environmental mitigation.
In return, he says they need some assurance that what they’re spending on studies and equipment won’t be a waste of time and money.