May 2021 Funding Bulletin
Hello Everyone!
Green Acceleration Underway
The Energy Futures Lab and Canada West Foundation most recently coordinated the LEAD (Leveraging our Energy Assets for Diversification) project. This project brought together a broad group of key stakeholders – oil and gas companies, new energy entrepreneurs, regulators, landowners, the Alberta government, environmental companies and legal experts – to find solutions and has since resulted in the creation of a joint report and draft bill.
In addition to this, EFL is partnering with RBC through Tech For Nature to help mobilize leaders in Alberta’s digital innovation ecosystem. “The RBC Grid Sandbox supports electric utilities with innovations in deploying and managing distributed energy resources being adopted by their customers.” says EFL Fellow, Barend Dronkers. “These innovations include the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) in energy efficiency and demand response programming and experimenting with new business models, both facilitating the transition to a clean, connected, and beneficial power grid the future demands of us.”
The Alberta Clean Technology Industry Association (ACTia) has joined forces with the Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre to lead the transition to a green economy and position Canada as a global leader in cleantech. ACTia will be known as Foresight Alberta as of September 2021.
Via the Business Renewables Centre, a newly launched corporate renewable energy deal tracking tool, the BRC-Canada Deal Tracker has been built. "Deals to buy renewable energy to supply corporate demand are now among the biggest drivers of new wind and solar energy development in Canada and in 2021 is already a record-breaking year for new corporate renewable energy procurement. With an influx of new deals in April, agreements announced to date have a total cumulative capacity of 685 MW—the equivalent of powering almost 225,000 homes each year, or half of Calgary’s households. More than a third of these deals have been announced this year alone, pushing new investment in Alberta past $1 billion CDN."
H2 production facilities are being built around the world. Alberta recently announced the formation of its Hydrogen Hub - in Alberta's Industrial Heartlands "there is about 1,313 tons/day of H2 as industrial feedstock demand in the Alberta Industrial Heartland (AIH), Edmonton, that is still served with grey H2 that needs to be turned to blue." "And the race is on." Atco and Suncor are collaborating on early stage design and engineering for a potential hydrogen project near Fort Saskatchewan. Also, very big news is that Atco is working on a proposed Clean Energy Innovation Park in Western Australia - and received funding for preliminary planning from Australia's Renewable Energy Agency to establish Australia’s first commercial-scale green hydrogen supply chain.
H2 plants are being built or have been built in Germany, Port of Bordeaux in France, California, Lancaster, Saudi Arabia. In addition to this, the May 11/21 issue of H2-Tech announced the following projects 1) a H2 project in Greece and Hungry that provides a solution to non-recyclable plastic and produces a clean fuel that can help improve air quality by replacing diesel with hydrogen as a transport fuel 2) development of green hydrogen plants in the Middle East, 3) a cargo containment system for transporting H2, and, 4) standardizing controls for H2 and CO2 capture.
ENEOS and Toyota are partnering to explore the utilization of H2 energy at Toyota Woven City, that firstly involves prototyping the future society prior to the install. Amazing that a city scale prototype will be built! The mission of building Woven City is to create a city built for happiness.
The Green Hydrogen US - Production, Transport and Storage online event is on May 25 - May 26.
It's like everything hydrogen and everything green are coming to the fore like a green industrial revolution making the planet safe for humanity.
The Canadian Safety and Security Program is purposed to mitigate the effects of future high-impact, low-frequency events such as pandemics, natural disasters or other disruptive forces caused by natural events or human activity.
Here's IEA's special report Net Zero by 2050 According to the report, to reach net zero emissions by 2050, global investment in clean energy will need to more than triple by 2030—to around $4 trillion per year. Global investment in new fossil fuel supply projects would have to cease entirely, while existing projects would need to become greener. Here's the link to Pembina's summary of the IEA report: https://www.pembina.org/media-release/iea-major-transformation-energy-sector-meet-climate-goals
Commentary: By reducing GHG, providing alternatives to fossil fuels, mitgating natural disasters, ESG implementations, government funded initiatives (like NRCan, TIER, the Alberta Emission Offsets program and TIER funded initiatives via ERA) along with the macro impact of individuals and families, all of these initiatives are coming together to reduce the cumulative impact of global warming. A sigh of relief for all - there's no such thing as underestimating the human race!!
BUDGET - DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER / FINANCE MINISTER FREELAND VIA THE51
Sponsored by The51, this presentation on the Federal Budget was encouraging, exciting, and, if I can say - truly Canadian - looking after Canadians by assisting Canadians and Canadian families plan for the future while providing support during the pandemic. (A link is on The51's website.)
THE 2021 BUDGET VIA BETAKIT
Betakit did a wonderful job summarizing the 2021 Federal Budget from the technology sector's point of view:
A $450 million renewal of VCC
$7.2 billion over the next seven years for the Strategic Innovation Fund
$500 million to the Industrial Research Assistance Program
$2.6 billion to the Business Development Bank of Canada
$60 million for the Innovation Superclusters Initiative
$443.8 million for the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy
New quantum and genomics strategies
$90 million to provide startups with access to intellectual property services (Elevate IP) plus $75M to IRAP to provide high growth firms access to expert IP services
$553.1 million over five years for a new RDA in British Columbia (WD /RDA's for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will remain in place.)
A Digital Services Tax at a rate of three percent on revenue from digital services that rely on data and content contributions from Canadian users
A Canada Digital Adoption Program to help businesses adopt new technologies and grow their online presence
$87.4 million over five years to “modernize federal procurement”
$101.4 million to create a Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development Program, and
Another extension of the CEWS and CERS programs.
The government has also proposed to improve the Canada Small Business Financing Program through amendments to the Canada Small Business Financing Act, which would expand loan class eligibility to include lending against intellectual property and startup assets and expenses. Source: https://betakit.com/federal-budget-2021/
Big Funding News!
The Alberta Jobs Now program will provide up to $370 million to help private and non-profit businesses support much-needed jobs for unemployed and underemployed Albertans across the province and help Alberta’s economy recover. Employers will be able to apply for a grant that covers 25 per cent of an employee’s salary for a 52-week period up to a maximum of $25,000 per employee. The grant can be used to cover salary or training costs. Employers who hire persons with disabilities will receive a grant 1.5 times higher than the amount they receive for other new employees.
Lastly, the Second Cohort of the TechnologyAlberta FIRST (First Industry Research, Science, Technology company) Job Pilot Program is open. "In partnership with the Government of Alberta, the TechnologyAlberta FIRST Job program is open to Alberta resident post-secondary students and recent graduates who are interested in working in Alberta's strong and growing tech sector, which has created 1000’s of new jobs in 2021.
Funding Deadlines
Alberta SME Relaunch Grant - Open until May 31 - the Government of Alberta has committed up to $350 million in funding for the spring 2021 payment from this program.
CRIN's $5 million Digital Oil and Gas Technology Competition - applications accepted May 18 – July 30, 2021.
CRIN's $25 million Low Emission Fuels and Products Technology Competition powered by Foresight CAC and The Delphi Group - Applications accepted until June 9, 2021 at 5:00 pm PT.
CED's June 5th RFP - To Build the Innovation Agenda for Calgary
Emissions Reduction Fund Onshore Program
The Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, announced the $750M Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) Onshore Program - to note $675M will go to onshore and $75M to offshore.
Digital Skills for Youth Program
Grant funding is available for hiring a post-secondary graduate for numerous positions - cleantech, digital, predictive modeling, drone operators, GIS specialists, IT specialists working with EHS data - check it out as there could be other positions funded.
Conferences
Propel’s ‘Fuel the Future’ - June 16 - 17, 2021
Inventures 2021 September 22 - 24, 2021
WISC Association Annual Conference June 17 - 18, 2021
I am am honored to be a speaker and will be speaking on 'Gateways to Innovation Funding in 2021'.
Pembina Institute News
Pembina Institute's ED Linda Coady has been named one of Canada's Climate Champions by the British High Commission and Canada Climate Law Initiative along with board member Sara Hastings-Simon, who founded the Business Renewables Centre Canada as Clean Economy Director at Pembina.
Sobering
The Federal Court of Appeal upholds Alberta's right to turn-off-the-taps legislation.
Moving Forward!
In these times, budgets are stretched – give me a call to discuss any one of the new programs listed in this Funding Bulletin or to discuss your projects and how innovation funding, and, employment and training funding will provide that bit of leverage to move your company forward in 2021.
When it comes to your planning ahead to secure funding, it starts with becoming acclimatized to the funding landscape. The Overview of the 130! Innovation Funding Programs and the Overview of the 30 Employment and Training Programs do just that. In a few hours you'll be apprised of the funding programs that fit for your business whether it be supporting innovation developments and/or growing your company. Next is to match funding opportunties with your requirements, and, then start preparing the submissions that best fit your R&D requirements.
Words to Inspire
Lately, the words that have put the picture together for me are 'shift' and 'discovery', and, then I think of the 49th! SpaceCraft Mission Mission to Mars - Perseverance, Discovery and that unbelievable little helicopter flying around Mars, Ingenuity - 225 million plus kilometers away! Interestingly enough, years ago one of the first organizations to focus on technology innovation was called Alberta Ingenuity.
Have a great long weekend and you sometime in June or July.
Best Regards & Be Safe
Eileen Ashmore, MBA, CMC Management Consultant - Technology Funding Specialist
403 252 0799 eileenashmore@strategictimelines.com
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