Renewable power market booming in Alberta: experts

Source: Jennifer Henderson | · ALBERTA PRIME TIMES · | July 4, 2022

Source: The province will see $3.75 billion in investment in the renewable sector by 2023 and the money will create 4,500 jobs in the province, with companies such as Amazon, TC energy, and RBC coming to Alberta to spend money. FILE/Photo

Alberta has become a destination for renewable energy projects due to the unique electricity market and prime weather in the province, experts say.

The province will see $3.75 billion in investment in the renewable sector by 2023, said Nagwan Al-Guneid, the director of Business Renewables Centre (BRC) Canada, which is now producing two gigawatts of clean energy, more than enough electricity to power all the homes in Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Red Deer combined.

“It's very exciting times to see this boom,” Al-Guneid said.

The BRC Canada, a group that works to make it easier for corporations to enter the renewables market, was established in 2019. BRC set a goal of reaching two gigawatts of energy generation by 2025, but have reached the goal three years early.

“We want it to be ambitious and bold, but we want it as well to be realistic,”Al-Guneid said

The new investment will create 4,500 jobs in the province, and BRC is seeing companies such as Amazon, TC energy, and RBC coming to Alberta to invest in the renewable sector.

The reason these companies are flocking to Alberta to invest in renewables is due to the unique electricity market in the province, Al-Guneid said.

Alberta has a deregulated electricity market, Al-Guneid said, which is unique compared to the rest of the country. It allows for those looking to buy energy to go directly to private power producers to buy the electricity they produce per year, either for their own use or for credit.