Cleantech Innovation

CLEANTECH INNOVATION

Government of Canada Measures to Enable the Cleantech Sector

Supporting clean technology is essential to the Government of Canada’s goals for promoting clean economic growth. The diverse nature of clean technologies across all sectors of the economy makes it difficult to define the sector as a whole and to coordinate all federal supports, but the Government of Canada is addressing these challenges.

Clean Growth Hub

The Clean Growth Hub is a whole-of-government focal point for clean technology, which helps cleantech stakeholders navigate Government of Canada programs and services, while ensuring a coordinated federal approach to clean growth.

The Hub understands that finding relevant funding and support for cleantech projects can be challenging due to the variety of programs, including funding, loans, wage subsidies, collaboration opportunities, tax credits, and more. The Hub’s advisors from 16 federal departments and agencies help connect cleantech innovators, developers, and adopters with government programs to

advance their initiatives. Small- and mediumsized enterprises make up the majority of the Hub’s clients, although large firms have also benefitted from the Hub’s advisory services.

To help drive Canada’s transition to a more inclusive and resilient clean growth economy, the Hub has also launched an inclusion strategy and action plan, as well as a toolkit to help stakeholders apply for federal funding. The Hub is working to integrate reconciliation, equity, diversity, and inclusion priorities to better understand and meet the needs of Indigenous peoples, women, and other groups under-represented in the cleantech sector. “Applying for federal cleantech funding: a toolkit” is a valuable resource that includes information about federal grants and contributions, as well as tips and links to help cleantech innovators and adopters apply for funding.

Clean Technology Data Strategy

The Clean Technology Data Strategy measures the economic, environmental, and social contributions of Canada’s clean technology sector. The strategy informs policy and pro -

gram design, supports sector growth, and enables private sector decision-making. The cleantech data produced is also essential for understanding how aspects of the government’s environment and climate change agenda contribute to clean growth.

The strategy’s website provides an overview of contributions from environmental and cleantech sectors to Canada’s GDP, exports, and jobs by province. It also summarizes employment diversity data on the workforce profile in categories such as gender, age, wage, immigration status, education, occupation, and Indigenous participation. To facilitate greater dissemination of the data produced by this initiative, the website is updated with interactive dashboards, detailed analysis, and dates for upcoming and previous data releases.

Driving progress for a sustainable tomorrow.

In addition to providing financial support for clean technology, the federal government carefully measures and coordinates its efforts.

Natural Resources Canada

Alberta’s Future Is Lithium: From Oil Powerhouse to Battery Powerhouse

D.F. McCourt

More and more, the world is running on batteries.

As technology continues to advance, as innovations like electric vehicles become more mainstream, and as electricity generation increasingly transitions to renewable energy, our dependence on batteries to power modern life is going to grow considerably.

Canada has built a place for itself in the world as an energy superpower, rich in both resources and expertise. In the years and decades to come, maintaining that position on the global stage is going to depend on our ability to be as groundbreaking in battery technology as we have been in oil, gas, and nuclear energy. Fortunately, Alberta’s natural wealth and enterprising spirit has us positioned to do just that.

Every roadmap to a cleaner and more electric future relies on our ability to store green energy for future use elsewhere.

“Without an efficient way to make electricity mobile, a battery, it's impossible to run society off electricity,” says Chris Doornbos, CEO of E3 Metals. “We have seen the world begin to shift to an electric future. Whatever the future source of energy is, you can’t get to an electrical society without a battery.”

These batteries won’t make themselves

Batteries, of course, are made from raw materials. And although there are many great battery designs out there, it's the lithium battery market that drives the most ubiquitous and portable technologies from cell phones to electric vehicles and implanted medical devices. “Because of the energy density of the element lithium, it's the most efficient metal on the periodic table for enabling the movement of electrons,” says Doornbos. “If you ask any chemist what would be the theoretical best tool to do the job of a battery, they would point to lithium.”

So where do we get our lithium from? Well, the good news is that it’s everywhere.

The hard part is finding large enough sources where it can be extracted in an economically viable way. This is where Alberta’s Leduc Aquifer, the same place where the province’s oil legacy began in 1947, comes in. “Lithium is everywhere,” says Doornbos. “There is even lithium in seawater. But, then, there's also gold in seawater. You have to be able to make an economic project work, and that requires a concentrated source of lithium and the ability to extract it. What we know about this aquifer in Alberta is that it can deliver large volumes of lithium-rich brine, which means we can make it happen.”

An entirely new industry... Lithium has not historically been produced in Alberta. In fact, E3 Metals had to advocate for regulations to be put in place, because the industry was non-existent and no regulatory body was empowered to oversee it. But now that the potential magnitude of this industry is becoming clear, people are beginning to pay attention.

“The total amount of lithium in Western Canada is truly remarkable,” says Doornbos. “Alberta as a whole is probably one of the largest sources of lithium globally. In the future, E3 Metals alone could produce over 150,000 tons of lithium a year. To give you an idea of where that fits in the global scheme, the biggest lithium producers today make about 80,000 tons. When this gets going, we could see lithium become a major contributor to Alberta’s GDP.”

...requiring a very familiar skillset It’s a perfect storm of resource density and expertise positioned at just the right moment in history. At a time when the shift away from oil and gas makes Alberta’s future look uncertain, this is an opportunity to reinvent and reinvigorate the province with a clean energy technology that requires all the same workforce skills. As E3 Metals ramps up the development of their lithium extraction operation at the Leduc Aquifer, they are creating

a lot of jobs for exactly the kind of workers Alberta already has.

“Most of the staff that we have on hand have worked in the oil industry,” says Doornbos. “Because we produce lithium from an aquifer, we produce it like oil. We drill a well and put in a pump, just like the oil and gas industry. Everything we do to operate and build this has been done in Alberta before.”

Low environmental impact Of course, there’s one big ques tion facing an industry that aims to be instrumental in building a sustainable future, especially one that is dir ectly positioning itself as part of the transition from fossil fuels, “How clean is it?”

Thanks to E3’s Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) ion exchange process, developed in partnership with the Univer sity of Alberta, the answer is, “Very.”

“We have a very small footprint,” says Doornbos. “Basically, there are columns of beads that the lithium in the brine sticks to as it flows through. So the brine comes out of the ground and into our facility, we extract the lithium, and we put the brine right back into the aquifer in a closed loop system, otherwise unchanged. That’s our impact.”

It’s a straightforward process with a lot of upside, and the social license is already in place. Now that the regulatory framework has also been established, the first lithium extraction enterprises in Alberta will soon be going from proof-of-concept to full operation. E3 Metals expects to be producing battery-ready lithium products in Alberta by 2025-2026.

“There will be other lithium producers in Alberta soon too,” says Doornbos. “I'm convinced of it. This is going to be a very big deal for the province.”

This article was sponsored by E3 Metals Corporation.

To learn more about Alberta’s lithium opportunity, visit e3metalscorp.com

Chris Doornbos President, CEO & Director, E3Metals Corp.

As we transition into a green energy era, it's time for Canada to redefine its role as a global energy leader. Abundant lithium resources position the country to be as ascendant in battery technology as we have historically been in fossil fuels.

The total amount of lithium in Western Canada is truly remarkable, Alberta as a whole is probably one of the largest sources of lithium globally.

On the heels of recent wildfires and storms, flooding, and mudslides in Canada, as well as the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, it's now clearer than ever that we need to take urgent action to tackle climate change and the threats it poses to our economy, livelihoods, and our healthy future.

Canada has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and our government has pledged to decarbonize the economy by 2050. It also recently committed to achieving a 100 percent net-zero emissions electricity sector by 2035. Waterpower will

Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin

be central to delivering the goods on this agenda.

Hydro is already the backbone of Canada’s enviably clean electricity grid. Water flowing through turbines produces close to 90 percent of Canada’s renewable electricity, and 60 percent of the country’s electric needs are powered by water.

Nonetheless, despite having a grid that is 80 percent non-emitting, Canada’s decarbonization strategy hinges on electrification — the repowering of almost everything in our society that today burns fossil fuels to instead run on zero-emissions electricity. This will mean cars, buildings, factories, and more. With only 20 percent of our energy

end-use currently electrified, transitioning everything at scale will require us to generate double or even triple the capacity of current low-emissions electricity. Canada’s waterpower fleet stands ready to not only deliver new capacity, but also help smooth and balance the load for variable renewables such as wind and solar.

Whatever the current and future clean electricity needs — from rapidly growing electric vehicle adoption, to cutting-edge efforts to electrify high-intensity industrial processes such as steel manufacturing and investments in green hydrogen — Canada’s waterpower industry is prepared to make them happen.

This article was sponsored by WaterPower Canada.

Anne-Raphaëlle

The Race Is On: Accelerating a Sustainable Future for Canada

Deschênes Country Managing Director & Head of Electrification Business, ABB Canada

The electrification of Canada’s transportation system is critical to achieving our netzero ambitions. Meeting this goal of carbon neutrality will require multiple elements, including technology, finance, and services to be delivered and scaled at unprecedented levels in the coming decade. Private and public interests will need to come together to achieve a netzero mobility future.

Here in Canada, global technology pioneer ABB is leading the way in the drive for clean mobility electrification and digitalization.

Moving toward a net-zero future Canada is on an ambitious path toward netzero emissions. At the recent 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Canada committed to accelerating the phasing out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

But are we equipped to tackle this goal? We know that clean electrification would get us much of the way to net-zero. Digitalization empowers everyday citizens to shift from traditional demand and consumption to prosumerism, or the increased involvement of customers in the production process — that is, both producing and consuming electricity, and even selling it back to the grid. And digital smart grid technology can be used to enable flexible demand.

Making electricity truly clean The first challenge in making the transition to net-zero is making our electricity truly clean. By 2040, 90 per cent of electricity must come from renewable sources. We’ve already made enormous progress, with 29 per cent of electricity from renewable generation globally.

The second challenge is enabling our power grids to be able to manage that renewable energy. Today’s power grid wasn’t built for variable sources, so it can’t capture and use all of the renewable energy being produced. We’re wasting renewable energy, then using fossil fuels as backup when solar and wind are low. We can’t afford that.

Other challenges include addressing and accommodating the complexity of the modern grid and rising electricity demand, which will more than double by 2050. This will require doubling our infrastructure, or managing existing infrastructure more intelligently with smart grid technology.

The good news is that digitalization helps solve many of these issues in the grid. Smart grids connect supply and demand sites to make demand more flexible. They use artificial intelligence (AI) to shift user demand automatically in buildings and electric vehicles to times when energy from renewable sources is available, and also add capacity, by feeding energy back into the grid, when solar and wind are low.

an ecosystem consisting of government, the private sector, public citizens, industry, and every day Canadians. Companies like ABB are an integral part of that ecosystem. In the quest to lift up the entire energy ecosystem to a new, consistent, and sustainable level, events such as the ABB FIA For mula E auto racing championship, returning to Canada this year, are here to speed the transformation.

“ABB FIA Formula E is more than just a race,” says Deschênes. “It’s a testbed and platform to develop e-mobility-relevant electrification and digitalization technologies all in the name of accelerating the transition of electrified transport.”

E-mobility’s role in the transition

As we increase clean electrification through empowered demand and a shift to clean energy, one specific area that offers a lot of promise is e-mobility.

E-mobility — the use of electrified vehicles for transportation purposes — will be a key part of the transition to net-zero emissions. “The number one and two challenges in greenhouse gas emission for Canada are buildings and transportation,” says Éric Deschênes, Country Managing Director and Head of the Electrification Business for ABB Canada. “If we collectively have the political courage to tackle these two challenges, it would represent more than 50 per cent of the whole undertaking. Political will is the first domino. It’s action on the governmental level that allows the second and third dominoes in the economy and in the community to fall. Technology is no longer the show-stopper here.”

An interconnected ecosystem

The political will is clearly materializing, but we need widespread collaboration. Moving toward clean electrification and e-mobility will require cooperation and action from

While these races are energizing the conversation around the electrification of mobility, they’re also directly driving the development of the infrastructure that supports that transition. To further strengthen ABB's commitment to advancing e-mobility in Canada and to coincide with the return of the championship to a country so closely tied to ABB’s own e-mobility development, ABB Canada will be donating electric chargers to the City of Vancouver and will work closely with the city to determine which chargers will be provided based on Vancouver's current needs.

“ABB FIA Formula E does more than just engage the local community and drive faster adoption,” says Deschênes. “Right after the Canadian E-Prix in Vancouver, next July, ABB Canada will leave behind more than $50,000 in charging infrastructure. This is in addition to everything Vancouver and British Columbia are doing."

ABB leading the way

As Canada moves toward its net-zero emissions goal, ABB’s leadership is invaluable.

“I recognize that my generation runs the risk of receiving a planet in better condition than the one we're leaving to the next generation,” says Deschênes. “We have a moral obligation to turn this current situation into a better one for the planet and the future.”

The time to act is now. We need to unite. What are you going to do?

To learn more about e-mobility’s role on the road to net-zero, visit new.abb.com/ca

We have a moral obligation to turn this current situation into a better one for the planet and the future.

Pioneering technology leader ABB Canada is energizing our country on the path to realizing our net-zero goals.

This page was sponsored by ABB.

Éric

Tania Amardeil and D.F. McCourt

Already a Hub for Cleantech, Guelph Now Leading Transition to Circular Economy

Cleantech innovation and sustainability are nothing new to the city of Guelph. “Guelph has always been a bit of a natural centre for cleantech activity,” says Anne Toner Fung, CEO, Innovation Guelph, a regional business incubator that helps to accelerate startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Guelph was one of the first North American cities to develop a community energy plan and there has long been a cluster of companies in the Guelph-Wellington area that fall into the cleantech sector. They range from wastewater management firms to water quality companies to solar panel manufacturers.

More recently Guelph has seen increased activity around the circular economy — an economic model that aims to transform the linear

“take, make, waste” paradigm to the circular one of “reduce, reuse, recycle” and further to include “reimagine and redesign.”

It started about three years ago at the intersection of the food sector and sustainability with a Smart Cities project to create a circular regional food economy in Guelph-Wellington. This project has now expanded to include broader environmental issues. “It’s no longer just around food waste and access to food, but sustainability and cleantech in general and it’s now tied to the post-COVID green economic recovery,” says Toner Fung.

Innovation Guelph offers funding, mentorship, and education programs Innovation Guelph has been supporting the

KPM Power's Battery Management Systems a Catalyst for Cleantech Innovation

cleantech ecosystem in and around Guelph for the past decade through funding, mentorship, and education programs. These programs range from supporting women-led businesses, to startup mentorship, and project-based programs for more established SMEs.

As the city and county further embrace the circular economy, Innovation Guelph is expanding its programs to do likewise. Building on its experience and expertise as one of the program delivery partners for the Smart Cities “Our Food Future” initiative, Innovation Guelph is also contributing to its next stage: Circular Opportunities Innovation Launchpad (COIL). COIL is an innovation platform and activation network dedicated to advancing circularity in businesses and communities. Through COIL programs, companies have the opportunity to create, prove, and scale transformative solutions. “The vision for this is a user-centred open innovation ecosystem which fosters the development of new businesses and collaborations that support regional circular economy,” says Christopher Coghlan, Program Manager, Circular Economy iHub, at Innovation Guelph. One of COIL’s key programs, the Activate Circular Accelerator, for example, focuses on funding and accelerating innovative circular economy businesses working in the nexus of the food and environment sectors.

Gaining momentum and attracting international attention Both within Innovation Guelph and around the city of Guelph, the circular economy is gaining traction with broader initiatives taking place.

“We’ve managed to garner the attention of some international players,” says Toner Fung. “One of the entities that provided curriculum for the Activate Circular Accelerator program was the University of Exeter in England, which is affiliated with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a global group of thought leaders on the circular economy, so I’d say the momentum is fairly significant and we’re just one small piece of it,” says Toner Fung.

In support of COIL, Innovation Guelph has engaged with circular economy accelerators and investment firms around the world, such as Closed Loop Partners in New York City, Tondo in Milan, and Circular Valley in Germany. “The work being done here is certainly attracting interest in organizations that are working in this space worldwide,” adds Coghlan.

To learn more about Innovation Guelph, visit innovationguelph.ca. For more information about COIL, visit coil.eco

To learn more about KPM Power’s Anzen BMS and its role in accelerating the growth of cleantech, visit kpmpower.com

Getting cleantech innovations to market can be challenging. KPM Power’s Battery Management Systems are helping to remove major barriers to electrification. This article was sponsored by KPM Power

When Karen Lai established KPM Power in 2017, getting lithium batteries to market was a huge challenge. “Dealing with lithium is a very expensive process and a lot of the government funding was being cut at the time,” says the President and Founder of KPM Power, a Canadian company specializing in customized lithium-ion battery solutions. Wanting to help get cleantech companies and alternative energy products to market, she eventually settled on battery management systems (BMS) as the quickest and most affordable way. BMS is an electronic system of hardware and software that monitors and controls the state and performance of the battery.

Only Canadian company with a UL1973 and UL2580 certified BMS

KPM Power’s Anzen line of BMS has a key feature for allowing customization for various applications and battery types and is approved for chemistries ranging from lithium to nickel-zinc. This year it received UL1973 and UL2580 certifications for safety for stationary applications (back-up power, off-grid power, vehicle auxiliary power, and light electric rail applications) and moving electric vehicles, respectively. Being the only Canadian company to have both certifications not only eases KPM Power’s own entry to the North American market, but also that of its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers. “It will also open the door to a lot of OEMs out there because it simplifies the certification process and makes it easier for them to get their cleantech to market,” says Lai. Being a female-founded and run company, KPM is eager to support young women and girls in pursuing the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields through hackathons and bursaries. “Right now, girls make up only about 20 percent of enrolment in STEM programs, so we’re working to help more girls join STEM fields,” says Lai.

We tend to think of traditional solar systems as ground mounted or rooftop mounted projects. However, there’s an argument to be made for integrating them with building facades. “If you’re looking at a high-rise building, for example, you have more opportunity to put solar panels on a façade than you do on the rooftop just due to space constraints,” says Hugh Lowry, Special Projects Engineer at Elemex Architectural Façade Systems, a London, Ontario based company specializing in photovoltaic façade systems.

Solar facades can bring economic, environmental, and community paybacks to a project. They yield cost savings and a return on investment by capturing and turning solar rays into clean energy in the building space. “Along with that, you’re offsetting the possible carbon emissions and providing a benefit to both the environment and the surrounding community,” says Lowry.

While using standard shapes, sizes, and colours is the most economical way to build a solar wall, there may be the odd finicky corner or tricky area that requires something more flexible and customizable. That’s one important consideration when looking into solar facades. Another is the fact that here in the northern hemisphere, the south-facing walls are more economical than north-facing walls.

Solstex® building-integrated photovoltaic façade system offers economical, custom solutions

Elemex’s Solstex® building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) façade system lets designers and architects incorporate lightweight, large format panels onto a façade and is ideal for new construction and retrofits. The panel surface resembles black glass and integrates well with other surfaces like aluminum plate, sintered ceramic, and natural stone, and works seamlessly with the entire family of Elemex® façade systems using their Unity® Attachment Technology.

Solstex® façade systems are also built to withstand the harshest elements and will soon be available in a new array of coloured panels to include dark grey, light grey, bluish-green, bronze, brass, gold, and orange.

This article was sponsored by Innovation Guelph.

Anne Toner Fung CEO, Innovation Guelph

Christopher Coghlan Program Manager, CFE iHub, Innovation Guelph

A long-time leader in cleantech and sustainability, Guelph is transitioning to the circular economy. Here’s how Innovation Guelph is supporting that transition.

D.F McCourt

The Solstex® Solar Façade System enables building owners to generate clean energy, save on electricity costs, and provide community benefits.

Hugh Lowry Special Projects Engineer, Elemex Architectural Façade Systems

This article was sponsored by Elemex.

Contact Elemex at elemex.com/ contact, for more information.

Anne Papmehl

Karen Lai President & Founder, KPM Power

Anne Papmehl

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELEMEX

PHOTO COURTESY OF INNOVATION GUELPH

Cultivating a Competitive Cleantech Canada

The cleantech revolution is coming, whether Canada’s ready for it or not. It's a transition that we should all be eager and grateful for, because future generations of Canadians are depending on it. But we also need to recognize the incredible realignment this reality will require for Canadian businesses, and we need to chart a course that provides burgeoning businesses in the field with the funding and expertise they need to prosper and grow in the green economy.

Big cleantech ambition built on small and medium enterprise success

With international leaders the world over, including here at home, setting ambitious net-zero carbon goals for 2050, cleantech is going to be the sector that shapes tomorrow’s global economy. In many ways, it already is. For Canada to avoid being left behind, we must dramatically increase our domestic clean technology base and adoption of these technologies, as well as our cleantech exports. The challenge is that most of the companies that are poised to make this happen are largely small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups, that don't have the size or reach to achieve these goals on a short timeline without support.

“Cleantech startups face enormous challenges,” says Ivette Vera-Perez, Team Lead

at Mitacs, a leading national not-for-profit organization focused on increasing productivity, innovation, and economic growth through research and training programs.

“In general, SMEs in cleantech often lack the critical access to public and private capital. Many clean technologies are capital intensive, but this capital also needs to be patient, as investments take time to reveal their true potential.”

However, the challenges don't begin and end with funding. Ensuring that companies can rely on talent with the right combination of skills, expertise, innovative spirit, and domain-specific knowledge can also present difficulties.

“Startups are often founded by tech entrepreneurs with vision and expertise, but a lack of knowledge of the regulatory and policy environment results in some of these companies failing to become successful,” says Vera-Perez. “Mitacs aims to fill a portion of this gap by helping companies bring in talent from post-secondary institutions to assist them in executing their roadmaps.”

Building connections, fostering growth

The map to a green future has many roads, but two of the most critical avenues are targeted grants for sustainable technology research and subsidized innovation internships placing high-calibre post-secondary students within cleantech companies. This year, Mitacs’s Elevate thematic call for proposals is awarding $80,000 per year research grants to postdoctoral fellows in key priority sectors, including cleantech. At the same time, their Accelerate internship program is pairing the brightest student minds and most experienced supervising professors with the fastest growing and most innovative companies through a mediated system that provides $15,000 in funding for each $7,500 contribution made by a participating partner organization.

our programs, we aim to foster innovation collaborations that will help companies fill gaps in their research and access the expertise they need to succeed in this important and growing sector of the economy,” says John Hepburn, Mitacs’s CEO.

These sorts of programs are the connecting tissue that lets Canada flex its clean technology muscle on the domestic and international stage. The direct and tangible benefits of these partnerships for companies that need research talent to grow and thrive are clear, but perhaps more important still is the way that they create an environment of ambition and a network of support that allows new ideas to grow and flourish.

“At Mitacs, we believe that collaboration is the key to success. And when it comes to cleantech, this is vitally important. Through

When good ideas are given room to mature Dr. Ulrich Legrand is a former Mitacs postdoctoral researcher who has gone on to found a company, Electro Carbon, that is looking to turn carbon capture technology into an engine that drives further utility. Dr. Legrand has developed a carbon dioxide electrolyzer system that converts carbon emissions into usable byproducts like potassium formate.

Potassium formate is a high value chemical with a wide variety of applications from deicing airport runways to preserving livestock feed. Until now, its production has previously been a source of emissions, rather than a net savings in them.

“Currently, Canadian companies that rely on potassium formate are importing it from countries that use traditional production methods, emitting roughly 1.4 tons of harmful carbon dioxide per ton of potassium formate into the air each year,” says Dr. Legrand. “When you take this indirect impact into account, each system we build has the potential to reduce global CO2 emissions by as much as 9,500 tons per year, the equivalent of taking 2,500 cars off the road.”

Mitacs has recognized the incredible value of Electro Carbon’s work with the 2021 Mitacs Environmental Entrepreneur Award. “This award helped us to gain visibility in our attempt to fight climate change with innovation,” says Dr. Legrand. “We will gladly collaborate with Mitacs for our next steps of development.”

This is just one example of the benefits of diligent and deliberate investment in advancing innovation in Canadian cleantech. If we continue to foster an environment of ambition and growth, and if we continue to strengthen and nurture the connections between industry and academia, Canada will be well-positioned to reach the audacious goals required to fully embrace the cleantech revolution in the decades to come.

Mitacs aims to fill a portion of this gap by helping companies bring in talent from post-secondary institutions to assist them in executing their roadmaps.

Learn more about the work that Mitacs does in the clean technology sector at mitacs.ca/en/ industry/ technology/ cleantech.

If Canada

Enabling Commercial and Industrial Decarbonization with Amp

The transition to a low-carbon global economy is increasing the corporate demand for power purchase agreements (PPAs) as organizations seek to reduce emissions and secure their long-term energy costs. As one of Canada’s leading renewable energy developers, Amp’s vision and technological innovations are reshaping traditional sustainability strategies and helping corporations realize their clean energy future.

Forging a new era in Canadian renewables

Steve Schaefer has been with Amp since its inception in 2009 and now serves as Senior Vice President of Origination and Head of Canadian Operations. Schaefer and his team have developed over 130MW of renewable energy across over 550 projects, primarily in the form of feed-in tariff contracts supplied by solar and, more recently, hybrid solar plus battery storage assets.

“The genesis of our commercial and industrial (C&I) strategy is to solve the challenges associated with C&I clients achieving their environmental sustainability targets by providing the most beneficial solutions,” says Schaefer. “This is why Amp is now a top-tier PPA provider globally.”

With decarbonization being new territory for many C&I organizations, Amp’s initial role

focuses primarily on education, data collection, and strategic planning.

“More and more C&I organizations are making ambitious net-zero commitments, but they don’t always know where to start,” says Schaefer. “That's exactly where we come in.”

A holistic approach to decarbonization Amp has evolved from supplying clean energy solutions to complete decarbonization strategies. In the increasingly competitive renewable energy sector, one of Amp’s key differentiators is its holistic approach to C&I energy transitions.

“Many organizations have taken small steps in the decarbonization space to date, but have now either generated their own net-zero target or had one imposed upon them,” says Schaefer. “Decarbonization doesn’t rely on one single pillar. The only way to reach these goals is through a holistic approach.”

Amp’s unique approach will include combining renewable generation with battery storage and its proprietary digital energy platform, Amp X. “We’re now integrating and unifying real asset development with Amp X, combining supply and demand through a digital platform with a single optimization engine,” says Schaefer. “We will be taking all the energy nodes, whether they’re consumption, generation, or both combined with

storage, and providing the unique capability to optimize behind the meter.”

Unlocking energy flexibility with Amp X The development and evolution of Amp X has been a revelation in the integrated energy solutions space. Working in conjunction with renewable energy and storage assets, Amp X is designed to unlock new levels of optimization and flexibility, enabling C&I customers to potentially generate new revenue streams via participation in energy markets.

Amp is also rapidly establishing itself as a global leader in the energy storage space, with an expanding portfolio of standalone assets and hybridized systems pairing batteries with solar or wind. In addition to extending the penetration of renewable generation, energy storage is emerging as an effective way to reduce peak energy demand.

Amid the rapid progress of Canada’s C&I decarbonization efforts, Schaefer is excited by the scale of the opportunities that lie ahead. “It’s breathtaking to see how many organizations are making that net-zero pledge, and my team and I are excited to support our C&I partners in achieving this vision,” he says.

Solar. Transforming Our Lives.

Globally, solar power provides the lowest cost of energy in history. It's a mature, commercialized technology that is available today — no future breakthroughs or government grants are required. Electrification is inevitable. Now is the time to elevate our clean energy standards in Canada. Solar is ready.

For businesses, solar is an opportunity to further monetize existing development assets. Solar is also a visible way to demonstrate corporate social responsibility and connect with clientele who share their sustainable values. Most investments in technology are deflationary. Solar is bankable. With a lifetime far longer than its return on investment, today’s solar drives the net cost of energy down, providing energy rates that are lower now, and for the next 30 years.

Solar power is highly adaptable, easily integrating into developed spaces. Unlike the construction of new centralized power plants, solar is rapidly installed anywhere, at any scale. As a distributed energy resource, solar avoids the expense of long-distance transmission, producing electricity where it's needed. This decentralization of energy not only stabilizes energy costs, it mini -

mizes urban sprawl by maximizing our use of space.

Solar transforms our cities There is an abundance of urban space that is not being used to its full potential. Rooftops and parking lots are underutilized and can be made productive. Solar transforms them into distributed power plants. By empowering us to rethink how and where we generate electricity, solar is an essential ingredient in the energy mix for a cleaner, electrified future.

Rooftop solar installations built on existing structures have already enabled early adopters to generate up to 100 percent of their electricity and beyond, with many exporting surplus energy to the grid.

Solar canopies that cover parking lots provide benefits that go beyond power generation. They provide shelter from inclement weather, shade in summer, and snow cover in winter. It's infrastructure at a human scale that enhances the urban experience.

Achieving Canada’s energy transition In Canada, renewables generate 70 percent of our electricity. They are already major sources of our energy. Despite advancements

in energy efficiency, our energy demand continues to grow, doubling in only 40 years. Distributed solar is one pillar in closing the gap to complete our energy transition, powering the electrification of transportation and heating.

Installing solar into urban spaces enables an agile, bottom-up response to transforming our energy infrastructure. Solar empowers communities and businesses to act now to fight climate change, drive down their longterm energy costs, and supply local economic returns. It's a new form of infrastructure that addresses rising capital costs and operating expenses.

Solar has the power to transform.

At VCT Group, we develop innovative solar products that productively transform space. Connect with us at vctgroup.com to learn more.

For more on the energy transition and commercial net zero strategies check out the full article at amp.energy/news

This article was sponsored by Amp Energy.

Steve Schaefer Vice President of Origination & Head of Canadian Operations, Amp Energy

Nik Harron Marketing & Design Lead, VCT Group

Corporate decarbonization can be a long and complicated process, but Amp helps its clients become leaders in the push to net-zero.

Matthew Devitt

This article was sponsored by VCT Group

Nik Harron

Decarbonization doesn’t rely on one single pillar. The only way to reach these goals is through a holistic approach.

IMAGES COURTESY OF VCT GROUP