Was it a moral imperative or an acute business flair that made you switch from oil and gas to the renewables industry as early as 2007?
My core belief is that we are all here to make the world better in some way, and I chose business as my way to enact that belief. Noting the environmental importance and tremendous growth potential of the green energy industry, I co-founded Greengate Power with my brother Jordan, and since the very beginning, we have been developers of large-scale renewable energy projects.
The International Agency of Energy called solar the new king of electricity. What about wind? How are wind and solar distributed in your portfolio?
We are primarily operating in Alberta, a fervent fossil fuel market that is now becoming increasingly popular for its world-class renewable energy resources. Given that we have some of the best onshore wind and solar resources in North America, we believe there is a role for both wind and solar in our portfolio. In late 2022, construction was completed on the largest solar project in Canada, which we developed and have Amazon as the offtaker. At the moment, we are under construction with a wind project that has a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft. Renewable energy technology started growing in places like Germany, Ontario, and California that wanted to take early action on climate change. The several decades of its being deployed in these markets led to significant investment in the scale-up of manufacturing, technology, and innovation ultimately resulting in significant cost reductions in wind turbines and solar panels.
Given Alberta's oil and gas tradition, what made you consider it an attractive market for developing renewable energy projects?
Alberta's economy is in the process of diversifying. It is also the only deregulated electricity market in Canada, hence enabling direct contracting between buyers of renewable energy and project developers like ourselves. Many of the world's largest companies that are looking to achieve net zero targets have started by making 100% renewable energy commitments, and Alberta's specific context allows for fruitful PPA contracts. We are the originators of all our projects: we begin by focusing on green field development, followed by turning the idea into an investable opportunity, and we bring in large utility or institutional investors as partners. Besides Alberta, we are also open to new opportunities across North America, and other potential international markets.
The Renewable Electricity Act called for 30% of all electricity produced in Alberta by 2030 to come from renewables. Does the province have the right infrastructure to support all that new generation of energy?
Just like many other jurisdictions around the world, Alberta is experiencing the growing pains associated with the renewable energy industry. Therefore, it is of central importance to continue to invest in infrastructure. The gap that we need to address is also a unique opportunity to push energy storage solutions as the missing piece that will allow for the unequivocal adoption of renewables worldwide.
What are the main challenges for the green transition from your perspective?
The energy transition is the largest commercial opportunity of our generation. I hope that the tremendous amount of capital currently being invested in this space all over the world, and the interest in the Alberta market will continue to flourish in the years to come.
The industry has been experiencing some headwinds recently due to rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions, inflation, and the increasing politicization of energy. Despite these challenges, investment in renewable energy keeps flowing, but they also highlighted how important fossil fuels still are to our current economy.
Some of the world's largest oil companies that have previously made renewable energy commitments are now walking back on these promises, and they are doubling their efforts on the oil and gas front.
How do you assess the need for a combination of renewables and traditional energy sources?
Energy is essential to people's livelihoods, and achieving our climate goals while maintaining it at an affordable price level is one of the main equations we need to solve as an industry. Energy transition is vital for the sustainability of human civilization, but since the world is still reliant on fossil fuels, we cannot simply turn off the taps immediately. The shift to renewable sources is going to take time, and for the moment we need to pursue both paths while trying to move towards decarbonization as quickly as we feasibly can.
