The sooner T&T can begin its hydrogen project, the better, according to Thibault Menage, vice-president for the Caribbean at HDF Energy, a French-owned, publicly listed corporation.
HDF Energy owns a 70% stake in T&T’s hydrogen start-up, NewGen Energy Limited (NewGen), which is a subsidiary of Philip Julien’s Kenesjay Green Limited (KGL).
The US$300 million NewGen Hydrogen project is the company’s flagship project, and it’s expected to deliver roughly 27,000 metric tonnes of carbon-neutral hydrogen per year for the benefit of the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.
At the Energy Chamber’s annual conference last week, Menage spoke to the Sunday Business.
He stated that the Caribbean is crucial for HDF. HDF Energy has a presence in the Caribbean, having completed a successful first project in Martinique and is now completing a comparable hydrogen project in French Guiana.
To that purpose, they formed HDF Energy Caribbean Holdings, a subsidiary situated in Barbados, where he is stationed and aggressively recruiting personnel.
“We consider the Caribbean as a vital location for HDF growth because it has everything necessary to make projects economically feasible right now, owing to specificities, and the NewGen project is a fantastic example of those particular that can be realized right now.”
“And I’m saying that we’re working on projects across Latin America, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North Africa,” he continues. As a result, we have a large number of subsidiaries. He stated, “Right now, the work we’re doing in the Caribbean is definitely at the forefront.”
However, things may move more quickly for Menage
“The sooner the better in terms of timescale.” Because you put money on the line as an investor, and you want that money to pay off as soon as possible. And a private sector firm, which is exactly what Kenesjay Green is, takes chances, and time is money,” he explained.
He saw last week’s signing of a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) between NewGen and the National Gas Company as critical to moving the project forward.
“All of the players are fired up. Isn’t NGC an excellent catalyst for bringing everyone to the table under the architecture of the NewGen development team’s project? However, NGC’s intention in becoming a hydrogen aggregator in the future is evident.
“We hope to accelerate very quickly from a contractual standpoint in the next three months, because only when the contractual perspective is set and the framework is set, with everyone in the room aligned and understanding what they have to do for this project to be delivered to Trinidad and Tobago, will we be able to deliver this project to Trinidad and Tobago.” “Only then can you get into the technical deep stuff that costs a lot of money,” he explained.
HDF Energy, a global leader in hydrogen power, revealed in April that it had bought a 70% share in the NewGen project managed by KGL.
KGL, the project developer, will maintain 30% of NewGen’s share capital, which will be jointly held by KGL and an investment entity that will allow more local investors to participate.
KGL and HDF will choose the best electrolysis technology supplier in Trinidad after a competitive evaluation procedure.
Apart from the project’s prospectus, Menage stated that the KGL team had a significant presence in Trinidad and Tobago.
“And what HDF had to put in on top of investment, which also meant cash flow for the project to materialize, was complementing skill sets that had been built on previous initiatives that I’ve described before.” So we’re talking about electrolyzer supply and market knowledge, but we’re also talking about project financing, which is a form of a financing structure that isn’t very typical in Trinidad and Tobago since it comes from the renewable energy industry, right? So that’s what we’re interested in,” he explained.
A hydrogen policy is required
The letter of intent, according to KGL Chairman Philip Julien, “truly symbolizes a development of our partnership that will lead to heads of agreement in the near future.”
“This is all in the context of NGC assuming more of a leadership and facilitation role in the progress of this hydrogen economy, as you’ve seen the Prime Minister talk very plainly about our separate duties (on Tuesday, at the opening of the T&T Energy Conference).”
“I believe NGC will play a role in enabling the engagement of other major players, such as T&TEC and PowerGen, as well as other state stakeholders.” And I believe it is reasonable to say that this will enable NewGen to concentrate on its core business of designing and delivering a world-class low-carbon hydrogen project. In a nutshell, that’s it,” he added.
What about a timeframe for a physical plant?
“We’d want to see things happen faster, not only for the sake of it, but Trinidad and Tobago is now in a unique position of being ahead of the globe in terms of timeliness in many ways.” Green hydrogen is a topic that is being discussed all around the world. Trinidad now has the advantage of having an established infrastructure known as Point Lisas, which is a traditional hydrogen hub. Many other countries of the world are working on establishing a hydrogen hub so that they may export and sell their hydrogen in the form of ammonia and methanol. Because Trinidad and Tobago already has those petrochemicals, he explained, “we have an inherent commercial and timeline head start to be one of the world’s most competitively priced low carbon hydrogen producers, and by extension, one of the most competitively priced low carbon, ammonia, and methanol producers.”
“However, we will only have that advantage for a limited time until the rest of the world catches up to us.”
“Of course, it would be fantastic, both patriotically and professionally, to have this project speed its growth, which we’re convinced the strengthened relationship with NGC will lead to,” he added.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said in his keynote presentation at the conference that hydrogen is being dubbed “the new oil” since it is said to have more energy per tonne than any fossil fuel.
While Prime Minister Rowley has expressed support for hydrogen, there is currently no overall strategy in place.
“We are hopeful that the government will continue to explore options, such as expediting the completion of T&T’s Hydrogen Policy.” “We feel that will open up a lot of doors for this project’s future,” Julien added.
He pointed out that there is a huge political, commercial, and technical push to usher in the new hydrogen frontier – hydrogen that is produced with little or minimal carbon footprint.
“And locally, in T&T, there is a growing economic urgency – and that is in relation to the business reality that T&T’s petrochemical industry has been operating below nameplate capacity for some time now, due to gas supply constraints, with no immediate or guaranteed remedies in the near future,” he said.
Stuart Young, the Minister of Energy, bemoaned the fact that conducting business in Trinidad and Tobago is clogged with red tape.
Young responded to media queries during a panel discussion at the T&T Energy Conference on Wednesday by saying, “I think that’s a reality.” Anyone would be burying their head in the sand if they didn’t accept that bureaucracy can sometimes take too long to complete tasks. It’s a cause of aggravation for me as well, and it’s a wake-up call for everyone in the public sector.
“You heard Claire Fitzpatrick (BPTT’s president) say that even in their organization, decisions might take too long. And now we must speed up our procedures while ensuring that we cross all of the i’s and dot all of the t’s in order to safeguard the people of T&T.
