Path Forward

State of the Canadian Electricity Industry 2022 Accelerate Net Zero

Theme 1 More and Faster: Getting to a Net Zero Grid

The ultimate path to a Net Zero grid will require an “all of the above” approach. This approach will mean Canada must:

• Increase investments in clean energy generation sources, including renewables, small modular reactors (SMRs) and hydrogen; • Support companies working on grid-scale

“longer duration” energy storage solutions; • Work with provincial/territorial governments to encourage interprovincial transmission; • Support distribution system upgrades, including new innovative smart grid applications; • Support further research, development and deployment of carbon capture and storage; and • Provide financial assistance, including rebates, for Behind the Meter customer energy solutions and energy conservation. What would it take to support these measures? This is the fourth edition of our State of the Industry. In each, we at Electricity Canada have highlighted actions that our industry needs to take to build the grid to meet the needs of Net Zero. In 2020, we identified a list of actions to achieve Net Zero. These actions have not changed. They include supporting the scaling up of new technologies; backing research, development and commercialization; and modernizing the regulatory rules in which the industry operates.

Since 2021, Canada has taken some steps forward on these actions. In the 2021 budget, the federal government announced a tax credit for the development of carbon capture, utilization and storage, which will also include provisions for hydrogen investments. The final details are to be announced this year. The Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program, which is taking applications, will support the deployment of new technologies. On the other hand, the federal government has yet to commit financial support for SMRs, which would help implement the SMR Road Map that was launched in late 2020.