RENEWABLE ENERGY (OR LACK OF) IN ALBERTA
On August 3, 2023 the United Conservative Government in Alberta announced a seven-month moratorium on approvals of all renewable energy projects in the province. The timing was strange. The renewable energy sector was booming with billions of dollars of investment flooding into the province and an estimated 118 projects at various stages of development.
Alberta has the only deregulated electricity system in the country which makes it prime for the deployment of renewable energy. Through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), companies can buy clean power from energy producers to offset their emissions. These long term PPAs create market certainty and allow renewable energy builders to access financing for projects. Alberta could become a powerhouse for renewable energy especially if it pursues inter grid connections with other neighbouring provinces/states thereby allowing clean energy to flow out of the province.
Aside from attracting investment and creating new jobs, renewables also would reduce emissions on a grid that very reliant on fossil fuels - almost 70 per cent of the electricity generated in the province comes from fossil fuels.
In February 2024, the government released their new rules for renewable energy which effectively shuts down the industry in the province. Two key regulations are the banning of renewable projects on prime agricultural land and/or within 35 kms of protected areas and other “pristine viewscapes”. The map below shows how that plays out across the province.
Source: The Narwhal
Research from the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary found only 0.08 per cent of all farmland would be required to build solar capacity to achieve the Alberta Electricity System Operator’s net-zero emissions goals.
Overall this shift is putting Alberta on the sidelines of an energy transition that is happening with or without them. Reaching Alberta’s and/or Canada’s emissions targets requires a big switch from fossil fuels to clean electricity and electrification is core to every conceivable pathway to our emissions reduction targets.