Alberta becoming hotspot for massive renewable energy deals
Posted Apr 21, 2021 8:34 am.
Last Updated Apr 21, 2021 8:37 am.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – The province of Alberta just made huge strides in the switch to green energy after a major investment from one of the world’s largest corporations.
Earlier this week, Amazon announced it would be investing in a renewable energy project in Newell County, east of Calgary.
The solar panel project will produce over 195,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable energy which is enough to power more than 18,000 Canadian homes for a year.
Business Renewables Centre (BRC) Canada said they’ve struck some significant investment deals recently, including the one with Amazon but also with other companies such as Labatt and Maple Leaf.
RELATED: Amazon announces renewable energy investment in Alberta
Director of BRC Rebecca Nadel said the company has landed more energy deals in the past 2 two weeks than they have in the last two years.
“The deals are across a range of different sectors, energy companies, banking, telecoms, it’s a pretty diverse array of corporations who are, generally, trying to meet the goals they have set around sourcing renewable electricity or reducing their carbon footprint.”
Nadel believes Alberta is leading the way when it comes to renewable energy investment and believes other provinces will follow suit.
“In previous years, we may have seen four deals in a year. We have seen that many in the span of just the last two weeks, in fact, yesterday had two in the same day. These are some pretty record-setting deals, companies like Amazon or Shell or they’re not insignificant.”
The Amazon project is expected to be the largest solar-operated initiative in Canada while Nadel added other projects such as Shell’s investment in wind energy, which could generate about 100 MWh of electricity.
