The National Joint Stock Company “Naftogaz of Ukraine” has agreed to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and green liquid hydrogen (LH2) from Quebec, Canada, through the Canadian energy developer Symbio Infrastructure (“Symbio”).
“This deal is a significant step forward in Ukraine’s transition to various energy sources from across the world, which began at the end of 2014 when we ceased importing Russian natural gas directly. We’ve bolstered our energy independence since then by participating in the European energy market. We think that purchasing a stable, responsibly generated long-term energy supply from partners like Canada – and Symbio’s facilities – by 2027 is important to our energy security, transition, and future economic development “Yuriy Vitrenko, the CEO of Naftogaz Ukraine, stated.
“Energy from Symbio’s innovative, net-zero, hydropower-driven infrastructure will provide competitive energy to Ukraine and will significantly reduce global GHG emissions by displacing higher emission energy sources used in Europe, such as coal, heavy fuel oil, and higher carbon intensity sources of natural gas and LNG,” said Jim Illich, Founder, and Chairman of Symbio Infrastructure.
On June 5 in Washington, D.C., the parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The LNG and LH2 will be supplied to an import terminal in a mutually agreed-upon European transit nation, according to the parties. Symbio will supply Europe with the world’s lowest carbon LNG because of Canada’s strict natural gas regulatory requirements and creative utilization of renewable hydroelectricity to power its facilities.
This MoU advances the Canadian government’s stated goal of assisting Europe in addressing its energy crisis and need for LNG supply diversification by expediting relevant approvals for exporting natural gas from eastern Canada to Europe via ultra-low emissions LNG export facilities with the ability to export hydrogen in the future.
Naftogaz is Ukraine’s biggest state-owned firm, involved in the whole field discovery and development process, as well as production and exploratory drilling, oil and gas storage, processing, and distribution of oil products, natural gas, and liquefied gas to customers. Naftogaz is devoted to future generations, which is why one of its strategic goals is to develop “green” energy assets to enable Naftogaz’s energy transformation and the Ukrainian economy’s decarbonization.
Symbio is creating Énergie Saguenay, the world’s first large-scale, carbon-neutral LNG export project, in Quebec, Canada, through its subsidiary GNL Québec. Due to its short shipping distance to Europe and cost efficiencies gained from Canada’s cold climate, the industry benchmark-setting facility will liquefy and export 10.5 million tons or 15 billion cubic meters (bcm)/year of clean LNG to Europe (roughly 17 percent of Germany’s annual gas consumption or about half of Ukraine’s consumption) at competitive prices.
By developing future-proof, net-zero energy infrastructure, generating LNG, and becoming one of the world’s leading green liquid H2 exporters, Symbio will help diversify the European energy supply and contribute to Europe’s energy revolution. Symbio’s initiatives are expected to start up in 2027, depending on the speed with which governmental approvals are obtained.
