RC107 JulyAugust2023 - Magazine - Page 24
ENERGY
MAKING THE TRANSITION
Building a clean, reliable, and affordable electricity
grid in Canada by John Tenpenny
KEY FOCUS OF BUDGET 2023, delivered by the federal
government earlier this year, is expanding and
transforming Canada’s electricity system, which
included a promise to spend on new programs to
compete with green energy initiatives contained
in the recent Inflation Reduction Act introduced in
the United States by President Joe Biden.
“Canada has free trade deals with countries that represent two-thirds of global economy,” stated Deputy Prime
Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland upon the
budget’s release. “We are going to make Canada a reliable
supplier of clean energy to the world, and, from critical
minerals to electric vehicles, we are going to ensure that
Canadian workers mine, and process, and build, and sell
the goods and the resources that our allies need.”
The budget also stated that “decisive action” is required
to ensure Canada remains competitive during the global
shift to net-zero, according to analysis from the Bank of
Canada and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial
Institutions.
“The recent passage of United States’ Inflation Reduction Act poses a major challenge to our ability to compete
in the industries that will drive Canada’s clean economy,”
the budget states.
In response, the government will spend $83 billion, the
expected cost of tax credits for clean energy and electricity,
through to the 2034-35 fiscal year.
The major new programs include the Clean Electricity
Investment Tax Credit and the Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit. A Clean Hydrogen
Investment Tax Credit was introduced in the 2022 Fall
Economic Statement.
The government will also enhance the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Investment Tax Credit and
expand eligibility for the Clean Technology Investment
Tax Credit.
The budget also revealed that the Canada Infrastruc-
A
John Tenpenny is the
editor of ReNew Canada.
john@actualmedia.ca
24
RENEW CANADA – JULY/AUGUST 2023
ture Bank’s mandate will be
revised so that it will “play
a leading role in electrifying
Canada’s economy.” The CIB
will invest “at least $10 billion
through its Clean Power
priority area, and at least
$10 billion through its Green
Infrastructure priority area”
in order to support major
clean electricity and other “clean growth” infrastructure
projects, stated the budget.
The Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) welcomed the support of the new investment tax
credits, and the association expects the deployment of
new wind solar and storage to accelerate significantly.
“The 2023 Budget demonstrates Canada’s strong leadership in leveraging policy, programs and the tax system
to accelerate decarbonization while supporting a strong
economy, with new investment certainty for solar energy,
wind energy, energy storage and green hydrogen,” said
Brandy Giannetta, CanREA’s vice president of Policy and
Government Affairs.
Days after the release of the federal budget, CanREA
announced the launch of a National Workforce Strategy to
support Canada’s growing renewable energy and energy
storage workforce.
The report examines three key considerations for
growing the renewable energy workforce: attracting new,
skilled talent to the renewable energy industry, retaining
the current workforce, and retaining industry knowledge
within organizations.
“A strong renewable-energy workforce is essential to
meeting national net-zero GHG emissions goals,” said
Mary MacLean, workforce development coordinator
with CanREA. “To keep the workforce growing at the
pace needed, workers must be cultivated, recruited into
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