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Province hopes to create 7,200 jobs by 2030 – needs billions in investment

Mar 25, 2017 | 10:22 AM

CALGARY –  The provincial government expects its Renewable Electricity Program to attract at least $10.5 billion of investment into the Alberta economy by 2030, which should create more than 7,200 jobs for Albertans.

At the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) on Friday, Energy Minister  Margaret McCuaig-Boyd announced the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is set to open a series of competitions to create greener energy in the province, putting the province on track to achieve its target of 30 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. In the irst set of competitions, companies will bid to provide up to 400 megawatts of renewable electricity, which could power up to 170,000 homes.

Successful projects will be announced around the end of the year. The expression of interest stage officially opens on March 31.

McCuaig-Boyd stated  that the government had “been hearing a lot of interest from industry in anticipation of this launch.”

She expects it to be a competitive process, bringing the most renewable generation online at the lowest cost, noting the program will not be funded by consumer electricity charges.

Successful projects will be private investments supported by carbon revenues from large industrial emitters.  The projects are expected to be operational by the end of 2019.

In total, the Renewable Electricity Program will support the development of 5,000 megawatts of renewable electricity capacity by 2030.
More information about the Renewable Electricity Program is available from the Alberta Electric System Operator