While Rivals Retreat, North Atlantic Doubles Hydrogen Bet

North Atlantic is nearly doubling its Newfoundland green hydrogen project. A new 481 megawatt wind farm at Bull Arm will push combined output from 30,000 to 60,000 metric tonnes of hydrogen per year. The move comes as competing projects in the province stall. That contrast makes North Atlantic the clearest hydrogen success story in Newfoundland right now.

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What is North Atlantic adding with Phase 2?

North Atlantic is planning a second, larger wind farm to expand its Green Energy Hub hydrogen project. North Atlantic is a St. John's based energy company. It operates the Come By Chance marine terminal in Placentia Bay.

Phase 2 calls for a 481 megawatt wind farm at and south of Bull Arm, a site in Trinity Bay. That single addition is larger than the entire 324 megawatt Phase 1 wind farm near Sunnyside.

North Atlantic expects to submit the Phase 2 environmental assessment registration in the fourth quarter of 2026. Community consultations are already underway. They run from July through October 2026.

The company is currently conducting baseline studies and environmental, social, and economic assessments ahead of that filing, per North Atlantic's Green Energy Hub project page.

How much hydrogen will the combined project produce?

Together, Phase 1 and Phase 2 would produce approximately 60,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen per year for export (North Atlantic, July 2026). That is double the 30,000 metric tonnes Phase 1 alone was designed to generate.

Phase 1 remains the near term focus. It includes a 324 megawatt onshore wind farm, a green hydrogen generation plant, and a hydrogenation plant at Come By Chance.

Project Stage	Wind Capacity	Hydrogen Output	Status
Phase 1 (Sunnyside)	324 MW	30,000 tonnes/year	Cleared EA, in FEED
Phase 2 (Bull Arm)	481 MW	Brings total to 60,000 tonnes/year	Registering Q4 2026

Why is North Atlantic moving now?

North Atlantic is advancing Phase 2 just two months after Phase 1 cleared environmental assessment. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change released Phase 1 on May 15, 2026. The approval included a seven page list of conditions.

That approval sent Phase 1 straight into front end engineering and design. A final investment decision on Phase 1 is expected in early 2027. The estimated project cost is near $1.75 billion.

North Atlantic is registering the next phase immediately, rather than pausing. Je Murphy, the company's vice president of capital projects, said the timing reflects a long term commitment to the province's hydrogen sector.

Why are other Newfoundland hydrogen projects struggling while North Atlantic expands?

Newfoundland's wind to hydrogen field has narrowed sharply in 2026. In February, the province ended Crown land reserves for three companies: World Energy GH2, EverWind NL, and Toqlukuti'k Wind and Hydrogen, citing a lack of progress and unpaid fees (CBC News, February 2026).

World Energy GH2, developer of the roughly $12 billion Project Nujio'qonik on the west coast, has effectively paused. The company has cited immature green hydrogen and ammonia market conditions as the reason for slowing down.

That leaves two active wind to hydrogen projects. North Atlantic's Wind to Hydrogen Project is one. The other is EVREC, a joint venture between Abraxas Power and EDF power solutions building a roughly CAD $14 billion hydrogen and ammonia project in central Newfoundland.

• EVREC filed its Environmental Impact Statement on May 15, 2026, the same day Phase 1 of North Atlantic's project cleared assessment (GlobeNewswire, May 2026)
• EVREC targets more than 3 gigawatts of onshore wind and up to 180,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen per year
• EVREC is targeting a final investment decision in 2026. North Atlantic's Phase 1 decision is expected in early 2027

North Atlantic is the only one of the two accelerating a second phase before the first has even reached construction. That distinction matters in a province where several hydrogen ambitions have quietly gone dormant.

Newfoundland's experience mirrors a broader pattern playing out across North America. Some early hydrogen hub funding in the US has faced setbacks, while other hydrogen hub projects continue advancing despite policy headwinds.

What makes North Atlantic's approach different?

North Atlantic converts its hydrogen into a Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier. This stable liquid, made using toluene, can be shipped much like conventional fuel. Five of the six original Newfoundland proposals instead planned to convert hydrogen into ammonia. North Atlantic argues ammonia shipping infrastructure is still less mature than liquid fuel logistics. Its LOHC approach is designed to be circular: the carrier ships to Europe, the hydrogen is extracted, and the toluene returns for reuse. North Atlantic's recent acquisition of the Gravenchon Refinery in France gives it a potential entry point for European hydrogen offtake. Company leadership has already pointed to where those offtake conversations stand.

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What does this mean for Newfoundland's hydrogen economy?

Newfoundland's remaining hydrogen projects, North Atlantic's and EVREC's, together represent billions of dollars in planned investment and thousands of construction jobs. North Atlantic's Phase 1 alone carries an estimated cost of $1.75 billion.

A combined 60,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen per year would meaningfully add to Canada's export capacity. That scale fits a broader wave of hydrogen investment across North America, including federally backed hydrogen hub projects in the United States.

North Atlantic's expansion also reflects growing confidence in Canada's broader clean energy build out. That confidence extends to carbon storage projects across Canada and emerging work on geologic hydrogen storage in Ontario. Canada's decarbonization pipeline is diversifying well beyond a single fuel or region.

Similar momentum is visible in aviation fuel. Quebec's sustainable aviation fuel project backed by Boeing and Ontario's wood based aviation fuel initiative show Canadian clean fuel investment reaches beyond hydrogen. Meanwhile, US developers keep registering new hydrogen hub proposals along the Gulf Coast.

North Atlantic's willingness to double down while others pause is a real signal for a young industry still finding its footing. Newfoundland's hydrogen story is far from over, and this next chapter is shaping up to be its biggest yet.

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