Canada to Invest $797 Million in Race to Carbon Neutrality – Courthouse News Service
The Canadian government announced a sizeable investment to green its energy sector after recently announcing plans to go carbon neutral within a few decades - but is that enough?
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(CN) - Canada is making great efforts to meet its commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050, starting with a new $ 797 million investment in clean energy over the next four years. Although not all believe that the government is providing the resources necessary to achieve its own lofty goals.
The latest investment is part of the country's Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program (SREP), which aims to cut CO2 emissions and phase out coal-fired power plants without jeopardizing energy stability in the often cold country.
“The Canadian government is investing $ 964 million over four years in the new Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program (SREPs) to drive adoption of non-emissive energy projects such as wind, solar, water and geothermal, ”a spokesperson for Natural Resources Canada in an email. “SREPs also support basic technologies such as storage and intelligent networks. The government is investing so much money in this program to promote the replacement of fossil fuel electricity with renewable energy. "
Canada has set the bar high with its environmental goals for 2030 and its ultimate goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. So the government is working to convert fossil fuel electricity to electricity from clean sources like sun, wind, water and geothermal energy, among others - but do they really have a plan, or are officials just injecting money in the hopes that someone out there will?
"I think this is a good start, but $ 960 million over four years is pretty small compared to the investment required," said Dr. MV Ramana, professor of global and human security at the University of British Columbia, in an email. “Still, I find that the program supports three different types of projects: established renewable energies like wind and solar, emerging technologies like energy storage and grid modernization. Established renewable energies are already competitive in many parts of the world and may not require as much financial support as the other two types of projects. In the last two categories I hope that the funding will increase in the years to come. "
All projects competing under the established and emerging technology categories must be able to provide grid services that are currently served by traditional hydropower, natural gas, coal or nuclear power plants in the jurisdiction in which the project is located. Once integrated into the existing network, these new projects will, according to official data, help utilities and their operators become familiar with newer, greener technologies.
“This investment is a step in the right direction. In particular, the project aims to support emerging technologies. This is where most of the support is needed to get projects off the ground and learn how to work with them, ”said Dr. Zareipour, professor of electrical and software engineering at the University of Calgary, in an email. “These projects may not be economically viable to enter the market on their own. Network operators have been working with a unidirectional central network for many decades. We have to start by integrating small but typical, unconventional projects into the network so that operators can experiment and learn to work with them and expand from there. "
According to Zareipour, Canada's current power grid is primarily designed as a one-way power system, meaning that electricity is generated and delivered to customers in a central location. He said integrating modern distributed energy systems into the grid must be an important aspect of any plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
"From an economic point of view, we need less help with established renewable energy systems (wind, solar) and more help with technologies that are still in an early development or demonstration stage," says Dr. Werner Antweiler, professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia in an email. “This part of the program focuses on innovation. One of the greatest untapped potential in Canada is geothermal energy, a technology that has matured over the past two decades and is no longer the exclusive domain of "flash steam" locations like Iceland. Modern binary geothermal systems can also provide waste heat for district heating or agricultural systems. I hope that geothermal projects will be funded through the SREP program. "
Program managers also have a strong focus on project security - a particularly relevant concern after the United States Colonial Pipeline hack last month crippled fuel supplies for millions in several southeastern states. Applicants must "demonstrate how their organization will use cybersecurity-related controls, standards and tools for their project and prioritize measures and investments to maintain or improve their cybersecurity position". In other words, applicants need to show what measures they have taken to thwart the next ransomware attack.
Programs submitted under all three paths can receive up to $ 41 million each. Established renewable energy projects must produce a minimum net capacity of 4 megawatts (or 500 kilowatts for indigenous projects) and have already been successfully used on a supply scale. New technology projects just need to prove that their technology has been successfully demonstrated in Canada.
"Funding alone will definitely not be enough and there needs to be a much broader approach, including changing policy incentives and negative incentives," said Ramana. “The government also needs to update its planning process. For example, Canada's Energy Regulatory Authority (formerly the National Energy Board) envisages that wind and solar power in their business-as-usual scenario will provide only 13.7% of total electricity by 2050, although these technologies have grown rapidly over the past decade to have. In the 'evolving scenario', wind and sun see a contribution of around 24%, which is still very low compared to what would be needed. "
The government recently announced a number of additional climate investments in its 2021 budget, including $ 12 billion to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030, another $ 12 billion for public transportation projects, and $ 14 billion to build well-paying jobs in the To create the clean energy sector. Still, much more needs to be done if Canada is to meet its climate goals in the decades to come.
"My criticism of SREP is that it lacks focus - it looks for solutions rather than formulating a clear vision of what is needed," said Antweiler. “Politically, it is a vehicle to fund a variety of programs across the country. Arguably, it might be better to identify the most pressing deficit in our electricity system and use the means to address that deficit. Remember that building a large, high-voltage DC line can easily run into the billions, so even a $ 964 million fund won't go that far. "
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