Abraxas Power Corp. and French energy giant EDF Group have announced the companies will collaborate on development of a 3-GW power-to-X (P2X) project in Newfoundland, Canada. Abraxas and EDF on Nov. 18 said the project would use wind energy to power electrolyzers and produce green hydrogen and ammonia, with output of as much as 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually.
The partners on Monday said they hope for a final investment decision on the Exploits Valley Renewable Energy Corp. (EVREC) project in 2026. The companies said that the EVREC installation also would produce as much as 1 million tonnes of green ammonia each year in addition to the carbon-free hydrogen production.
The companies plan to export the hydrogen and ammonia to other global markets. Officials with Abraxas, based in Toronto, Ontario, in September of this year said export would be primarily to Western Europe. Construction is scheduled from 2026 to 2030.
EVREC is a green energy project development group “with goals aligned to those of the Canadian Government to set the country on a path to meet climate change goals of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” according to the company.
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2023 awarded EVREC the exclusive contract to redevelop about 74,000 acres of government-owned land in Central Newfoundland for the project. The project represents an investment of about 12 billion CAD ($8.5 billion).
“We are proud to join our partner Abraxas within the EVREC Project, which demonstrates strong competitive advantages in the global green hydrogen and ammonia market,” said Beatrice Buffon, CEO of EDF Renewables and group senior executive vice president of the company’s international division. “With its Hydrogen Plan, EDF is supporting the energy transition with decarbonisation solutions in the sectors that emit the most CO2.”
EDF’s Hydrogen Plan was launched in 2022 with a goal to develop at least 3 GW of hydrogen production globally by 2030.
“Half of the CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions to be eliminated to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 will be achieved through innovations that do not yet exist in the market or are emerging,” said Alexandre Perra, executive vice president of EDF Group. Perra is in charge of the company’s Innovation, Corporate Responsibility and Strategy Division. Perra added that “100% low-carbon hydrogen is one of the solutions that EDF has decided to commit to in order to decarbonize our economy in depth.”
The companies on Monday said they think the EVREC project will offset more than 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).
