Canadian energy company Symbio Infrastructure is to deliver LNG and green hydrogen from Québec in Canada to Ukraine after signing an agreement with Naftogaz of Ukraine.
Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), Symbio will deliver the LNG and hydrogen to an import terminal in a mutually agreed European transit company.
Symbio says that its LNG is the world’s lowest carbon LNG due to Canadian regulations, and the fact that its facility is powered by hydroelectricity. The company is developing the world’s first carbon neutral LNG export facility in Québec which will liquefy and export 15 billion m3 of LNG to Europe annually once complete, the equivalent of 17% of Germany’s requirement or 50% of Ukraine’s. Company founder and chairman Jim Illich says that the energy supplies will ‘significantly reduce’ greenhouse gas emissions by displacing higher carbon gas, coal and fuel oil.
Naftogaz, which carries out exploration and development activities, production and exploration drilling, oil and gas storage, and oil products, natural gas and liquefied gas processing and distribution, has been seeking to diversify its energy supplies and move to green energy as part of Ukraine’s decarbonisation efforts. Meanwhile, the new MoU helps to advance the Canadian’ government’s pledge to help Europe address its energy crisis and diversify LNG supplies.
‘This agreement is an important milestone on Ukraine’s path of transitioning to diverse supplies of energy from around the globe, which we began at the end of 2014, when we stopped the direct import of Russian natural gas. Since then, we’ve fortified our energy independence by being an active player in the European energy market. We believe opportunities for procuring reliable, responsibly produced long-term energy supply from allies like Canada – and from Symbio’s facilities – by 2027 is critical to our energy security, transition and future economic prosperity,’ says Yuriy Vitrenko, CEO of Naftogaz Ukraine.
