US-based project developer World Energy GH2 has shelved a giant 1.2GW green hydrogen and ammonia project in eastern Canada, after it failed to find any offtakers.

The Project Nujio’qonik green hydrogen project, in Stephenville in Newfoundland and Labrador, would have been developed in two 600MW phases, eventually drawing on 2GW of purpose-built onshore wind.

But speaking to Canada’s public service broadcaster CBC this week, World Energy GH2 chairman John Risley outlined his plans for a new venture, called Clean Grid Atlantic, that would use the yet-to-be built wind capacity to export power to other provinces in eastern Canada instead, putting the nail in the coffin for the green hydrogen scheme.

Meanwhile World Energy GH2’s website, which was at one point primarily dedicated to its green hydrogen project, has now been revamped to position the company as primarily a renewables developer, in which green hydrogen is just one option to monetise green electrons.

“Project Nujio’qonik is well advanced with environmental approval for the development of 2 GW of wind farms and a green hydrogen / ammonia plant; 108,000 hectares of Crown land secured for wind farm development,” it reads.

“Domestic uses for wind energy and green hydrogen are being explored, including green fuels, green steel and data centres.”
A spokesperson for World Energy GH2 confirmed Risley’s remarks as correctly rendered, but declined to comment further.

Project Nujio’qonik was originally envisaged as an export project with its eye on European markets, attracting $50m in investment from South Korea’s SK Ecoplant, which took a 20% stake in the scheme.

The project was feted by Germany’s then-chancellor Olaf Scholz at the project’s inception in 2022, which coincided with the launch of the so-called Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance. At the time, Scholz and then-Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau agreed to facilitate a green hydrogen corridor between Canada and Europe.

However, nothing from that agreement has yet materialised, and when it became clear that no buyers in Europe were prepared to sign on the dotted line, World Energy GH2 eventually pivoted to trying to find local industrial offtakers of green hydrogen and ammonia.

Risley told the broadcaster that clean hydrogen development is not feasible in today’s market, although he was optimistic that it would be eventually.

“Where are our future energy prices going to go? My crystal ball is no better than anyone else’s, but I think it would be wrong to say that hydrogen is never going to be part of the equation,” he said.

“I think hydrogen will be part of the equation one day, we just don’t know when.”