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Moving to Net Zero: Manitoba Hydro Ready to Meet Canadian Federal Guidelines

Moving to net zero:

Manitoba Hydro ready to meet Canadian federal guidelines

- By Scott Powell -

Director, Corporate Communications, Manitoba Hydro

Manitoba’s electricity system is already one of the lowest GHG-intensive grids in Canada. With abundant clean, renewable hydropower, Manitoba is poised to lead Canada’s fight against climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The Government of Canada’s 80-page climate strategy, A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy, lays out a plan to meet or exceed Canada’s 2030 Paris Agreement emissions reduction target (a 30 per cent reduction in GHG emissions from 2005 levels) and establish the building blocks to get to net-zero by 2050.

“This is the most significant climate change strategy ever introduced by a federal government in Canada,” said Kristel Arnold, Energy Policy Officer for Manitoba Hydro. “And we’re already meeting some of these goals.”

Though it hasn’t always been intentional – until recently, low emissions from hydropower generation were more a byproduct of development than a strategic choice – Manitoba’s power infrastructure has always been largely GHG-free, with most generating stations leveraging the natural flow of water in the province as fuel.

GHG emissions from Manitoba Hydro’s operations are less than one per cent of total provincial GHG emissions, and the province contributes less than three per cent of Canada’s national GHG emissions. Total GHG emissions from Manitoba Hydro’s operations in 2019 were 0.11 megatonnes — less than 0.1 per cent of national electrical generation emissions.

AVERAGE AMERICAN UTILITY’S CO2 PER GWh 459

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AVERAGE CANADIAN UTILITY’S CO2 PER GWh 135

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MANITOBA HYDRO’S CO2 PER GWh 0.4

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Manitoba Hydro’s primarily run-of-river hydropower is among the cleanest energy in Canada.

To meet future demand and export agreements, the utility continues to develop additional sources of clean, renewable energy. The first unit at the new Keeyask Generating Station entered service on February 16, 2021, after 7 years of construction.

“First power from Keeyask builds on Manitoba Hydro’s enviable position in the low carbon world of the future,” said Jay Grewal, Manitoba Hydro’s President & CEO. “Nearly 98 per cent of our electricity is already generated using clean, renewable, and virtually carbon-free hydropower – a huge advantage for our province as North America moves to reduce carbon emissions.” Climate change has been on Manitoba Hydro’s radar since the 1980s. For more than 25 years, the utility has lent technical and market expertise to support the development, evaluation, and implementation of standards, regulations, legislation, voluntary programs and markets that aim to reduce GHG emissions.

The utility’s strategy to respond to climate change includes enhancing the generation output of existing generating stations and continually looking at how wind, solar and a wide array of emerging electricity technologies (such as batteries and bioenergy systems) may fit in future energy supply planning.

As part of its long-term strategy, Manitoba Hydro also continues to monitor and plan for trends in the electrification of transportation and the adoption of heat pumps, geothermal systems and other energy-related technologies, and periodically publishes a Climate Change Report to provide insight into its response to climate change. The most recent report was published in 2020.

“We want to ensure we continue to be a climate change leader in the utility industry as we move toward a net zero world,” said Grewal.

Manitoba Hydro is a provincial Crown corporation and one of the largest integrated electricity and natural gas distribution utilities in Canada. Nearly all of the electricity Manitoba Hydro produces each year is clean, renewable power generated at 15 hydroelectric generating stations.

When complete, the Keeyask Generating Station will have seven units in service, producing an average of 4,400 gigawatt hours of electricity annually and making it the fourth largest generating station in Manitoba. Keeyask is a collaborative effort between Manitoba Hydro and four partner First Nations – Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake First Nation, York Factory First Nation and Fox Lake Cree Nation – known collectively as the Keeyask Hydropower Limited Partnership.

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