Green Hydrogen International has announced the Spirit of Scotia green hydrogen hub, a gigascale green hydrogen production complex set to be built in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Green Hydrogen International (GHI) has recently presented a plan to construct a green hydrogen production and storage project to be built in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The project is set to be built in phases up to 500 GW, securing a source of green hydrogen for European and North American markets.
Named the Spirit of Scotia, the project is the company’s second gigascale green hydrogen complex and calls for the development of hydrogen storage facilities in salt formations across the province. Underground salt storage is essential and enables a lower production cost as well as the ability to guarantee delivery to customers.
The company has obtained mineral exploration licences across most of the known storage-grade salt formations in the province.
The importance of this development for European and North American markets
Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed a deal for Germany to import green hydrogen from Canada. Prime Minister Trudeau reiterated Canada’s commitment to helping Europe meet its energy needs, now and in the future, including through support for hydrogen and critical minerals.
Nova Scotia is well positioned to support Europe with its green hydrogen requirements, with easy access to European energy markets, abundant offshore wind resources, and storage-grade salt formations. Large-scale production will soon be cost-competitive with hydrocarbons due to the declining cost curve of offshore wind power. Nova Scotia is set to become a key global player in green hydrogen production.
Spirit of Scotia’s hydrogen production potential
When fully expanded to 500 GW, the project has the potential to produce over 43 billion KG of hydrogen per year, equivalent to over 450TWh of energy. This could power 73% of Germany’s electricity needs.
To ensure that the project is sustainably built, the company intends to work alongside the Canadian and Nova Scotian Governments as well as the Mi’kmaq People and the province’s local communities.
GHI’s Founder and CEO Brian Maxwell, stated: “The massive wind resource available offshore Nova Scotia, combined with the significant salt formations suitable for hydrogen storage, means Nova Scotia will be one of the best places in the world to produce green hydrogen.”
Andy Steinhubl, GHI Board Member and former McKinsey Senior Partner, added: “Salt storage is an advantaged solution for solving the intermittency problem of renewable power, as well as enabling giga-cost economies of scale, and providing ratable offtake projects. GHI is building a global portfolio of these projects and Nova Scotia is a top priority for the company.”
GHI aims to bring together a consortium of developers, companies, and local community and First Nations groups to help advance the project. “This will be one of the largest deployments of capital in Canadian history and an enormously bold undertaking, so we’re excited to work with a broad group of stakeholders to make it happen,” explained Maxwell.
Maxwell believes the Spirit of Scotia Green Hydrogen Hub will create a significant opportunity for the province’s local communities.
“I expect the wealth generated by Spirit of Scotia to flow to the residents of Nova Scotia for generations to come. The project will create thousands of jobs, reduce local power costs, and add significant tax revenue to the province,” declared Maxwell. “Plus, Nova Scotians will be able to proudly say that their province is a world leader in green energy production.”
