Greenland is now entering the global battle to find alternatives to fossil fuels in earnest, courting interested companies and investors around the world.
This is being done by offering the large potential hydropower reserves located in the areas between Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq.
This was announced this morning by Kalistat Lund, Naalakkersuisoq for Agriculture, Self-Sufficiency, Energy and Environment, at the World Hydrogen 2022 Summit in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The conference, which has 3000 participants, is the world’s largest in the field of hydrogen energy.
Kalistat Lund was the keynote speaker at the conference, where he explained that Inatsisartut decided last autumn that Greenland’s hydropower reserves should be exploited – and that Greenland is now looking for partners to join in the work.
Huge resources
In short, Naalakkersuisut is now offering interested investors and companies to join the fight for a licence to exploit the hydropower potential in Tasersiaq and Tarsartuup Tasersua. The two areas are estimated to have potential for hydropower generation up to a combined 800 MV. By comparison, the Buksefjord power plant currently produces 45 MV, so this is a huge resource.
The idea is to harness hydropower to produce hydrogen, which in turn can be converted into, for example, ammonia or methanol, which can be used as fuel and both stored and transported, unlike other alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power.
It is a new technology, not yet fully developed, but it is estimated to be able to replace the part of the world’s energy consumption that cannot be replaced by other sources – and is therefore an important building block if the world is to be fossil free by 2050.
We have the power
Kalistat Lund thinks it’s natural for Greenland to join.
- With the coming expansion of hydroelectric power plants, we will be able to cover 90% of Greenland’s electricity consumption. But we can go further and become an exporter of fossil-free energy.
- We must do this for the sake of our children and grandchildren. He who has the ability also has the duty, so Greenland must help the world get rid of fossil fuels. We have the power, says Kalistat Lund to Sermitsiaq.AG.
It’s expensive and takes time
Initially, Naalakkersuisut is looking for companies and investors who want to participate. Next year, there will be a real tender – and once the operator is approved, it will be at least another four years before the first sod is turned.
It is also an expensive project. Observers at the Rotterdam conference estimate that up to DKK 20 billion will have to be invested – and the project will certainly be the biggest construction project ever in Greenland.
It is not money that taxpayers will have to pay. The participating companies are supposed to come up with the money themselves – and then the use of the hydropower resource will be paid for initially through IBA agreements, as is known from the rest of the extractive industry, and taxes on the companies and their employees.
