Canada, Germany sign agreement for Canadian hydrogen exports by 2025

• Canada to commence hydrogen exports to Germany from 2025
• Canada-Germany alliance aims to support regulation and carbon standards for hydrogen production and trade

LONDON(ICIS)–Canada and Germany announced late on 23 August that the two countries had signed a deal in which Germany would begin import of hydrogen from Canada by 2025, a press release from the Canadian government said.

Members of the German and Canadian government, including Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz and Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau were present for the signing of a Joint Declaration of Intent between the two countries, establishing the Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance.

The Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance intends to accelerate market growth for hydrogen, with exports from Canada to Germany of clean hydrogen targeted to commence from 2025.

The deal will commit each country to establishing a Canada-Germany supply corridor, with the two enabling investment in hydrogen projects through policy harmonization as well as supporting the development of secure hydrogen supply chains.

The hydrogen will be produced by wind farms in the west of the country in Newfoundland, before being shipped to Germany, potentially in the form of ammonia or liquefied hydrogen.

Under the alliance, both countries will aim to explore support mechanisms, such as Germany’s H2Global, which is a Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme that aims to secure long-term volumes of renewable hydrogen from international sellers, but then re-sell that hydrogen to the domestic market via auction at a reduced price.

The alliance also noted the need to “strengthen and accelerate ongoing bilateral and multi-lateral collaboration on the development and alignment of codes, standards and regulation, pertaining to the production, distribution, trade, and use of hydrogen,” the joint declaration said.

As well as this, the alliance will work on a common methodology for the determination of carbon intensity of hydrogen which can be used to define what clean, low carbon, and renewable hydrogen are.

Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s minister of natural resources, said in the press release that “unlocking the potential of hydrogen is an essential part of our government’s plan…not only for domestic opportunities, but also for its potential as an export opportunity to provide clean energy to countries around the globe.”

GERMAN HYDROGEN STRATEGY

According to Germany’s National Hydrogen Strategy, the country is expected to have hydrogen demand of 90-110TWh by 2030, of which the bulk will be hydrogen imports from other countries.

The strategy states that “the energy partnerships will also be contributing to the decarbonization and economic development of the countries exporting the hydrogen.”

Robert Habeck, Germany’s vice-chancellor, said in the press release for the joint declaration that “green hydrogen is an important key for a climate-neutral economy. We must resolutely pursue climate change mitigation to secure our prosperity and freedom. This is more important and urgent than ever at this time.”

Germany has been seeking alternative energy sources following the decision of Europe to reduce reliance on Russia for energy on the back of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in late February.

The movement away from Russian natural gas is aligned with the European Commission’s REPowerEU package, which targets a phase-out of Russian gas by 2027.