German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed confidence that Canadian LNG will make the country’s transition away from importing Russian gas easier on Tuesday, the day after Canada downplayed the economic viability and timeline for building new export facilities.
On the second and final day of his official tour of Canada, Scholz spoke just before Justin Trudeau.
Canada is Germany’s preferred partner, according to Scholz, who made the statement at a Canadian-German economic summit in Toronto. Germany is rapidly turning away from Russian energy.
This entails raising our LNG imports for the time being. Scholz anticipates that Canadian LNG will be crucial in this.
Although two LNG facilities are being constructed on the West Coast, Canada currently lacks any.
As Europe strives to reduce its dependency on Russian supplies, Canada is working to increase its natural gas export capacity by up to 100,000 barrels of oil equal per day by the conclusion of the year.
By the statement of Trudeau, Canada is currently contributing to the world’s energy supply.
He said, however, that the country’s ultimate goal is to become a major supplier of clean energy, such as hydrogen.
Trudeau kept the possibility of new LNG ventures from Canada’s Atlantic coast open on Monday, but he stressed the projects’ financial challenges and the fact that they would take years to build as the world races to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
When asked if there had been any progress since Monday toward new Canadian LNG projects, a government source who had knowledge of the negotiations responded that there had been “no change” and that Scholz was fully aware of the general timescale connected with the new Canadian LNG.
Germany is quite interested in gas from almost anyplace, according to the source, as it is desperate to fill gaps in the natural gas supply from Russia this winter.
Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told us in June that Repsol’s (REP.MC) project in New Brunswick was the most viable project.
Germany and Canada had recently suggested they were examining alternatives for LNG terminals on the Atlantic coast.
On the Pacific coast, Canada has two LNG projects planned: Woodfibre LNG, a unit of Pacific Energy Ltd., is anticipated to be finished in 2027, and Shell-led LNG Canada (SHEL.L), which is scheduled to start operations in 2025.
The hydrogen “alliance” deal between Canada and Scholz is scheduled to be signed later on Tuesday.
Scholz also stated that Canada has virtually unlimited potential to become a powerhouse in the production of sustainable energy and resources.
In an effort to further diversify away from Russian energy, German energy companies Uniper (UN01.DE) and E.ON (EONGn.DE) announced on Tuesday that they planned to work on agreements with Canada’s EverWind to purchase a total of 1 million tons of green ammonia annually starting in the middle of the decade.
In addition to securing access to hydrogen, Canada struck agreements on Tuesday with German automakers Volkswagen (VOWG p.DE) & Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) to step up efforts to do so.
These materials are crucial for electric vehicle batteries since they include lithium, nickel, and cobalt.
