BEAR HEAD ENERGY GREEN HYDROGEN/AMMONIA PROJECT IN NOVA SCOTIA

Mike Priaro

The Nova Scotia government’s environmental approval in April 2023 for the Bear Head green hydrogen/ammonia project permits up to two gigawatts of hydrogen electrolysers. At full build-out and peak power inflow, Bear Head could produce up to 350,000 tonnes of hydrogen and two million tonnes of ammonia per year, positioning Nova Scotia to be a leader in the production of green hydrogen and ammonia and a critical part of the global energy transition.

CAUTIONARY NOTES — MIKE PRIARO

1.  No Final Investment Decision (FID) is expected before 2024 and project financing is still being sought.

2.  There is no public cost estimate yet, but it will be many billions.

3.  This project will require and obtain heavy provincial and federal government (i.e., taxpayer) assistance, for example through the Clean Hydrogen Investment Tax Credit which includes a 40% ITC for clean hydrogen and a 30% ITC for clean technology.

4. Bear Head is politically important to Justin Trudeau because of promises made to German Chancellor Schröder for green hydrogen/ammonia and because Justin Trudeau’s government has effectively killed every proposal for oil and LNG exports from Canada’s East Coast. Look for a Trans Mountain-type financial boondoggle.

5.  The BAES Infrastructure team behind the Bear Head green hydrogen/ammonia project was formed in 2020 and has only completed one solar power project as of 2023. Good luck, fellas, you are going to need it to successfully build the world’s first world-scale green hydrogen/ammonia project.

6.  Hydrogen is difficult to contain and is highly explosive. Ammonia is lethally toxic at only 0.5% in air. Put the two together in close proximity with inexperienced operators and …

7. Ammonia power is not clean — combustion emits lots of nitrogen oxide (NOX) and nitrous oxide (N2O) which is a very aggressive greenhouse gas 283 times stronger than CO2.

8. Converting ammonia back into hydrogen is expensive.

9.  The project plans a massive 300 tower wind power farm to supply the electric power — instead of using Muskrat Falls hydropower. None of that wind power will be available for Nova Scotians.

10.  The first time a Category 2 hurricane that frequently lashes the Nova Scotia coast arrives, the wind turbine blades will snap, crack, and pop — rendering them useless.

11.  Developing an engine that is powered by ammonia has proven challenging. Today, there is no large marine engine capable of running on ammonia — let alone dual diesel/ammonia fuel capable. 

12. The difficulty of safely using ammonia as a transportation fuel is perhaps the most critical factor of all.

13. While there are many industrial uses for ammonia, the economics of transporting green ammonia by ship compared to generating ammonia locally from natural gas are probably not attractive, however, I haven’t actually sussed out the details.

But let’s continue with the project hype.

Recognizing that hydrogen and ammonia have unique characteristics as potential low carbon solutions across many industries and that Bear Head’s location in Nova Scotia offers unique advantages for clean energy projects, the team began to transition the project from LNG to the production of low carbon hydrogen and ammonia.

Bear Head production of hydrogen will use renewable wind power, not yet constructed, for energy to split water (H₂O) into hydrogen (H₂) and oxygen (O₂) via electrolysis, a CO₂ emission-free process.

The traditional hydrogen process is the exact opposite, as it releases CO₂ into the atmosphere when fossil fuels (e.g., coal or natural gas) are burned to produce electricity and during the process of breaking hydrogen (H₂) from natural gas or other fossil fuels.

The hydrogen can be combined with atmospheric nitrogen to produce ammonia (NH3).

Mioke Priaro

Calogary

April 24, 2023

Published by Mike Priaro

Mike Priaro, B.Eng.Sc. (Chem. Eng.), U.W.O. '76, P.Eng., Lifetime Member Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), worked in facilities, production, operations and reservoir engineering, as engineering consultant, area superintendent, and engineering management in Alberta's oil patch for 25 years for companies such as Amoco and PetroCanada. He increased oil production from the historic Turner Valley oilfield and brought in under-balanced drilling and completion technology to drill out, complete, and test several of the highest producing gas wells ever on mainland Canada at Ladyfern. He co-authored ‘Advanced Fracturing Fluids Improve Well Economics’ in Schlumberger's Oilfield Review and developed the course material for the ‘Advanced Production Engineering’ course at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Mike has presented his work to Canada’s House Committee on Natural Resources in Ottawa and to the Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications in Calgary. He has had work published in: JNW Energy, Feb. 27, 2017; Alberta Oil magazine, Oct. 20, 2016; World Pipelines magazine, Sept. 2016; the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in the Mar. and Apr., 2014 and Feb., 2015 editions of Inside Policy magazine; energy industry websites such as RBN Energy and OilPrice.com; Oil and Gas Journal, Jul. 17, 2014; Petroleum Technology Quarterly, Q3 2014; and in columns in the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Halifax Chronicle Herald, and others. Mike has no formal connection to any oil company, environmental organization, think tank, labour organization, lobbying or special interest group, academia, or to provincial or federal politics. In 2015 Mike provided "A Preliminary Engineering, Economic, and Environmental Evaluation of ASRL's Partial Upgrading Process" to Alberta Sulphur Research Limited and presented it to 80 representatives of ASRL's member companies. ASRL partial upgrading subsequently obtained Alberta government funding and industry support. On Jan. 29, 2016, the Alberta Government made partial upgrading a priority based on its Royalty Review Panel’s recommendations. ASRL’s partial upgrading flow test pilot ran at CANMET/NRCan’s research facility in Devon, AB during 2016. In 2016 Mike was invited to be a Bowman Centre Volunteer Associate at the not-for-profit Bowman Centre for Sustainable Energy. Its mission is 'to catalyze big energy projects which drive Canada’s energy strategy and generate sustainable wealth and jobs'. Mike’s work can also be found on his LinkedIn pages: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-priaro or Behance website: https://www.behance.net/Mike_Priaro

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