The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced a call for bids on Crown land in 2022 for wind-to-hydrogen energy projects. At the time, large land leases were awarded to plans for development of industrial wind-to-hydrogen power production, including sufficient space for multiple wind farms and industrial processing facilities, ultimately aimed at serving export markets.

Questions about what would happen in the event those plans didn’t come to fruition—or if companies decided to change their plans over time—regularly went unanswered or were given limited response.

Now, some proponents who were awarded land leases want to head in different directions. They’ve made their intentions known and are working on new, formal project concepts and proposals.

Any materially changed projects will require land lease updates and potentially new leases. So far, as Atlantic Business recently confirmed, no company in the initial wind-to-hydrogen land leasing has taken the step of attempting to update their lease.

“To date, the provincial government has not received any applications from any proponent seeking approval to alter their project,” reads a statement supplied by staff with Energy and Mines, on behalf of Minister Lloyd Parrott.

Atlantic Business confirmed that was the case as of end of day Thursday, January 29.

Any companies making material changes to their megaprojects will need to submit a revised development proposal to the government. These first go to the Energy and Mines department for review, according to the minister, then elsewhere in government as required, depending on the exact project changes.

Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro issued a request for expressions of interest in July of last year related to adding capacity and energy to the island’s power system. The utility has plans for additions of new generators at the Bay d’Espoir power plant and Holyrood but also has expressed interest in contracting for additional wind reserves. That said, expressed needs for local use are exponentially smaller than hydrogen and ammonia production and export plans and would require far less in square footage.

There will be much more on regional energy—including Nova Scotia’s Wind West—in the next edition of Atlantic Business Magazine, available March 1.

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