Provincial energy minister Andrew Parsons is not at all surprised that more federal funding is needed to ensure that projects being developed to export hydrogen to Germany go ahead.
Ottawa signed an agreement with Germany back in 2022 for the production and shipment of Canadian hydrogen produced using wind energy. Since then a number of projects are in the works, but there are indications that more public funding is needed to keep the agreement alive.
That could prove difficult in the short term now that a federal election has been called.
Andrew Parsons Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology
“To be completely honest, not unexpected one bit,” says Parsons of the news. He says renewable energy comes with a higher cost, but he does believe there is a willingness both federally and in Germany and the EU as a whole to fund renewable energy.
In the meantime, Parsons says the provincial government ensured a number of fail-safes in the development of wind-powered hydrogen in Newfoundland and Labrador so that the province and the taxpayer are not left holding the bag if a project falls through. He cites the leases offered on Crown land as an example.
“There were no Crown grants offered, it was Crown leases, so if their terms aren’t met, if the payments aren’t made at the end of the day, the land comes back to the province.”
