Nova Scotia outlines plan to support green hydrogen industry

Nova Scotia released its Green Hydrogen Action Plan on Friday, but environmentalists say the government should temper its enthusiasm to make sure the fledgling industry brings benefits to the province without causing collateral damage.

“We want to put a pathway forward for success,” said Tory Rushton, Nova Scotia’s minister of natural resources and renewables.

Hydrogen energy is considered green when produced using renewable power, such as wind or solar. Some say it’s a viable alternative to fossil fuels for producing electricity and powering vehicles and planes, among other uses. 

There is no green hydrogen being produced in Nova Scotia now, but two energy companies are vying to establish themselves in the province.

Projects by EverWind Fuels and Bear Head Energy, both for Point Tupper, N.S., have received approval from the province’s environment minister.

Space for caution

Nova Scotia’s plan, released by the government Friday morning, is a 44–page document with seven goals and 23 action items. 

Brenna Walsh, energy co-ordinator at the Ecology Action Centre, said the size and detail of the plan points to excitement on the part of the provincial government, but she’s looking for a more measured approach.

“We really do think that there is still really a space for caution being really important when thinking about developing this industry,” said Walsh.

Walsh said she’s concerned about the loss of biodiversity from the construction of large-scale wind farms, both on land and offshore, to power the green hydrogen facilities.

A handful of land–based wind farms have already been proposed to power EverWind and Bear Head’s plants, with the first one granted environmental approval this week.

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The province anticipates that offshore wind will also factor heavily into powering green hydrogen production, but the development of offshore wind in Nova Scotia waters cannot proceed without legislative changes.

The province is waiting on Ottawa to pass a bill that would turn the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board into the Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator.

Once that passes, the province will introduce mirror legislation.

Rushton said developing a green hydrogen sector might necessitate other legislative or policy changes, but he was not specific about what those changes would be.

Mixing with natural gas would be ‘greenwashing’

Walsh also flagged that the plan proposes blending green hydrogen with natural gas. The plan says it would “reduce the carbon intensity of Nova Scotia’s natural gas system,” but Walsh said she worries that practice could, counter to the intentions, simply perpetuate natural gas use.

Gretchen Fitzgerald, the national programs director for Sierra Club Canada, was similarly troubled by the idea of blending fuels.

“I’m very concerned that … mixing something we’re calling green with something we know we need to phase out is going to be greenwashing, essentially.”

Export a priority

It may be many years, however, before any green hydrogen is actually used locally.

So far, the companies that have proposed setting up green hydrogen plants in Nova Scotia are planning to export their product internationally. As the government’s plan notes, one of the reasons Nova Scotia appeals to energy companies is its position on the Atlantic Coast, making for easy export to Europe.

Rushton said he envisions some locally produced green hydrogen will eventually stay in Nova Scotia, although he would not put a timeline on it. Completion of the plants is likely years away, and Rushton said international export is the only viable way to get the industry started.

“We do need to build up that export market in order to be successful in creating a domestic market as well,” said Rushton.

“Nova Scotia itself would not be a sustainable scale, economically,” he added.

Fitzgerald bemoaned the emphasis on export.

“First best use is electricity use here and potentially other provinces … to displace fossil fuels first,” she said.