HowCanada'ssolarpotentialisdeliveringforAmazon
Canada’s business-friendly approach to climate change gives technology giant prime energy
Travers Solar is a 3,300-acre solar farm in Alberta, Canada, which came into operation in 2022. Canada’s largest solar farm to date, it is one of the largest solar farms in the world.
It is also a significant move towards Amazon’s goal of powering all its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. The technology giant, the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy, will obtain the bulk of Travers Solar’s output.
This agreement is a prime example of Canada’s approach to the energy transition: Attracting multinational partners to simultaneously advance national and corporate sustainability goals.
Travers Solar is a 3,300-acre solar farm in Alberta, Canada, which came into operation in 2022. Canada’s largest solar farm to date, it is one of the largest solar farms in the world.
It is also a significant move towards Amazon’s goal of powering all its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. The technology giant, the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy, will obtain the bulk of Travers Solar’s output.
This agreement is a prime example of Canada’s approach to the energy transition: Attracting multinational partners to simultaneously advance national and corporate sustainability goals.
Spotlight on solar
Solar panels are becoming more efficient thanks to technologies like tracking “
Dan Balaban
CEO of Greengate Power
Travers Solar is another step towards Canada’s objective of net-zero energy generation by 2035. Its electricity grid is already 83% non-emitting, making it one of the cleanest energy networks in the world. This is predominantly thanks to the country’s abundance of hydroelectricity, which provides 60% of Canada’s electricity.
Solar has played a relatively small role in Canada’s energy transition so far. But advances in technology have made it a more viable option for the country’s climate says Dan Balaban, CEO of Greengate Power. “Solar panels are becoming more efficient thanks to technologies like tracking, where the panels follow the sun, and bifacial panels that absorb light from the front and back.”
Greengate Power is one of Canada’s leading renewables developers. In its 15 years, it has developed over a gigawatt of renewable capacity, enough to power over 400,000 homes. With its 465 MW capacity, Travers Solar is the company’s biggest project developed to date.
In 2020, Greengate Power struck a funding agreement with Danish renewables fund Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), which now owns the solar farm.
Corporate renewable procurement like this has become common in Alberta. It’s a mechanism enabled by the province’s business-friendly energy sector.
Spotlight on solar
Travers Solar is another step towards Canada’s objective of net-zero energy generation by 2035. Its electricity grid is already 83% non-emitting, making it one of the cleanest energy networks in the world. This is predominantly thanks to the country’s abundance of hydroelectricity, which provides 60% of Canada’s electricity.
Solar has played a relatively small role in Canada’s energy transition so far. But advances in technology have made it a more viable option for the country’s climate says Dan Balaban, CEO of Greengate Power. “Solar panels are becoming more efficient thanks to technologies like tracking, where the panels follow the sun, and bifacial panels that absorb light from the front and back.”
Greengate Power is one of Canada’s leading renewables developers. In its 15 years, it has developed over a gigawatt of renewable capacity, enough to power over 400,000 homes. With its 465 MW capacity, Travers Solar is the company’s biggest project developed to date.
Solar panels are becoming more efficient thanks to technologies like tracking “
Dan Balaban
CEO of Greengate Power
In 2020, Greengate Power struck a funding agreement with Danish renewables fund Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), which now owns the solar farm.
Corporate renewable procurement like this has become common in Alberta. It’s a mechanism enabled by the province’s business-friendly energy sector.
Renewable environment
There are three reasons renewables are flourishing in Alberta, says Balaban, a native of the province. First, “we’re the only deregulated power generation market in Canada.” He credits this framework with enabling corporate procurement like Amazon’s.
“We’re not dictated to by a provincial or state-owned utility, in terms of bringing new power generation to the market,” Balaban explains. That means companies like Amazon are free to advance their ESG objectives by purchasing green energy output directly from projects like Travers Solar.
Second, “Alberta is the sunshine state of the north,” says Balaban. “For the purposes of producing electricity, Alberta’s solar resources are as good as Florida. We have more than 300 days of sunshine a year, and solar technology produces relatively well under low temperatures.”
Alberta’s solar resources are as good as Florida ”
Dan Balaban
CEO of Greengate Power
Third, Alberta’s long pedigree in the oil and gas sector means the province has a well-developed energy workforce. “Alberta has a really strong energy sector, with really talented people,” says Balaban. “They may have started in fossil fuels, but their expertise is absolutely transferrable to renewables.”
And while Balaban enthuses about Alberta’s deregulated energy market, “guided solely by supply and demand market fundamentals”, that demand is tilted in renewables’ favour by a robust carbon pricing regime.
It’s a deft balancing act between market-based initiatives and provincial support that is reflected across Canada.
Third, Alberta’s long pedigree in the oil and gas sector means the province has a well-developed energy workforce. “Alberta has a really strong energy sector, with really talented people,” says Balaban. “They may have started in fossil fuels, but their expertise is absolutely transferrable to renewables.”
And while Balaban enthuses about Alberta’s deregulated energy market, “guided solely by supply and demand market fundamentals”, that demand is tilted in renewables’ favour by a robust carbon pricing regime.
Alberta’s solar resources are as good as Florida ”
Dan Balaban
CEO of Greengate Power
It’s a deft balancing act between market-based initiatives and provincial support that is reflected across Canada.
Committed to sustainability
The Canadian government has made a number of sustainable commitments: Net-zero economy by 2050, net-zero grid by 2035, all new vehicles to be electric by 2035, coal phased out by 2030.
In support of those goals, the federal government offers a range of direct financial support, from grants to subsidized loans and tax credits. These run from sector-specific, such as the Investment Tax Credit for Clean Technologies, to generalized technology accelerators that can apply to clean tech.
These are augmented by initiatives aimed specifically at sustainable innovation. Headline examples include the Net Zero Accelerator, part of the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), which has a CAD $8 billion fund to accelerate decarbonization and scale clean technology. And the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (ACCA) allows businesses to write-off investments in clean energy equipment.
All these programs are coordinated by the Clean Growth Hub, which also helps producers and users to navigate the support and services available to them.
Committed to sustainability
The Canadian government has made a number of sustainable commitments: Net-zero economy by 2050, net-zero grid by 2035, all new vehicles to be electric by 2035, coal phased out by 2030.
In support of those goals, the federal government offers a range of direct financial support, from grants to subsidized loans and tax credits. These run from sector-specific, such as the Investment Tax Credit for Clean Technologies, to generalized technology accelerators that can apply to clean tech.
These are augmented by initiatives aimed specifically at sustainable innovation. Headline examples include the Net Zero Accelerator, part of the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), which has a CAD $8 billion fund to accelerate decarbonization and scale clean technology. And the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (ACCA) allows businesses to write-off investments in clean energy equipment.
All these programs are coordinated by the Clean Growth Hub, which also helps producers and users to navigate the support and services available to them.
The path to net-zero energy
Canada is pursuing every available route to decarbonization, leaning on existing technology as well as investing in developing solutions like hydrogen and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
Balaban is confident Canada’s committed pragmatism will yield a net-zero grid by 2035, one way or another. “But I’m bullish on renewables,” he says. “I believe that’s going to be the dominant pathway.”
With mammoth renewables projects like Travers Solar, and blue-chip partners like Amazon, 2035 may prove him right.
