POINT TUPPER: Two Strait Area businesses are exploring a customer supply agreement for the local supply of green liquid oxygen and other products for the proposed Canso-based Spaceport Nova Scotia.
EverWind President and CEO Trent Vichie told The Reporter, the agreement would further solidify both companies’ sector-specific leadership positions and strengthen each company’s positive impact on the local economy and environment.
“They approached us looking for a potential supplier of liquid oxygen and potentially liquid hydrogen, to support their fuel needs,” Vichie said in an interview April 6. “The volumes for us, they aren’t huge volumes; but we want to be supporting the whole ecosystem in the Strait Area. If we can provide liquid oxygen or liquid hydrogen from green energy, that sounds like a really good thing to do.”
On March 7, EverWind announced they had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Maritime Launch to explore the potential of a customer-supplier relationship. Green liquid oxygen is an output from EverWind’s planned Point Tupper green hydrogen facility and is required for the operation of launch vehicles from Spaceport Nova Scotia.
“They need to get it from somewhere, and they were looking at a number of different suppliers; they were aware of our project, and because we’re so close, there are transport cost advantages, it’s a shorter supply chain, there’s real industrial logic to it,” Vichie said. “We, as a company, are excited about doing it; really excited about doing it. We’re looking to supply 10 per cent of our product into the local market, and longer-term we’re going to be looking into decarbonizing the domestic market here.”
Despite having already signed offtake Memorandums of Understandings (MOUs) with German energy giants Eon and Uniper for over one million tonnes per annum of green ammonia, EverWind is always looking to support local, emerging green energy transition opportunities.
Currently under construction, the spaceport is North America’s first commercial launch site and will provide satellite delivery services to clients in support of the rapidly growing space transportation industry over a wide range of inclinations.
Maritime Launch expects to be in operation by 2024.
While construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2023, EverWind Fuels is developing the first independent green hydrogen and green ammonia project in North America to receive an Environmental Approval, and is also amongst one of the firsts in the world.
The first phase is permitted and set to produce and export 200,000 tonnes per annum starting in 2025 then achieve the full one million tonnes per annum volume by 2026.
In a press release, President and CEO of Maritime Launch, Stephen Matier, indicated securing a local, green source of liquid oxygen to supply their launch vehicles and support their launch operations will complement their competitive advantage in the global space sector.
“By working together, we will reduce the carbon footprint of our spaceport with a local source of green liquid oxygen as opposed to transporting it from out-of-province,” Matier said. “We are excited at the prospect of bringing two Nova Scotian global sector first movers together in a supply agreement that is good for business, good for Nova Scotia, and good for our planet.”
Speaking on the recently passed federal budget, Vichie applauds the Government of Canada’s plans to position the country to lead the global clean energy transition.
As the global movement toward green energy is rapidly accelerating, he suggested, this is a critical time for our elected officials to determine whether Canada will be a leader or a follower in the future energy economy, and Budget 2023, delivers in providing comprehensive measures slated to solidify Canada as a world-leading provider of clean energy and compete with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
“I think it’s incredibly positive. When you heard the communications around the budget, there were concerns about short-term economic outlook, the fact that they’ve implemented these measures against that backdrop, speaks to the incredibly strong support from the Canadian federal government,” Vichie said. “It will pay dividends for Canada. The global green energy hubs of tomorrow are being determined today. Off-takers, investors, and equipment suppliers are looking at jurisdictions and projects around the world, and Budget 2023 sends a clear signal that they should choose Canadian projects.”