You have been working in renewable energy for over two decades; how have you seen attitudes toward this industry change during this time?
The change in perception has been tremendous. In Canada, with the exception of hydro, renewable energy was pretty much unknown 20 years ago. There was a lot of education to be done in the beginning. Today we have about 10000 MW installed across the country - sure, there are still a few people that oppose the concept, but generally speaking clean energy technologies are well known and accepted.
It is in fact a very exciting time to be part of this sector. We had a few dark clouds over the last few years due to Covid and the supply chain disruptions that resulted, but now we see that major US states have mandated increased renewable energy production (New York, for instance, targets 10 GW of solar). The trend in Canada is similar; demand is increasing, and several provinces are launching new projects. The federal government is also supportive, incentivizing certain industries such as batteries and hydrogen. I am very optimistic about what is to come.
What is the primary reason for the clouds to dissipate, making way for this abundant opportunity?
In the early stages, everybody was pro renewable energy but nobody wanted to take action because technology was still expensive.
Today, with the growth on the demand side and the technology we have available, wind and solar are cheaper than anything else.
This undoubtedly tipped the scales in our favour.
Wind and solar have reached maturity, but storage has yet to be widely implemented. Do you see a similar trajectory for this segment?
Indeed, storage lags behind because the technology is newer and still quite expensive. We have completed six projects on a smaller scale. Many questions remain, similar to where wind was 20 years ago.
What are the main challenges that the renewable energy sector faces now?
The grid is still a weak point, not much investment has gone into it despite the large generation base that was created. It is critical that utilities join in and upgrade their systems to allow for the integration of renewables. It is difficult to predict how this will occur; distributed generation is viewed as a threat to utilities because their systems will be less solicited in some areas, requiring them to change their business model. Governments may be able to push things forward here.
You currently operate in Canada and the United States; do you intend to expand further?
We are focused in Canada with priority, the demand is very high in provinces like Newfoundland, Quebec or Ontario; we are developing roughly 600 MW in these areas. In the US, we focus primarily on the North-East, meaning states that have specific mandates to reach certain renewable energy quotas. Projects are smaller but hold the advantage of being situated very close to demand, so that consumers know clearly where their energy is coming from - this aspect is increasingly important nowadays.
What do you have planned for Kruger in the coming years?
We want to double the size of our Group and have several large projects in the works to do so. We are relying on three key pillars: wind, solar, and the newly launched EV platform. We have started this path towards sustainable transportation, and have acquired two semi-trailer trucks that are fully electric. The goal is to expand our fleet in this direction and advise other companies who want to take this leap. We are quite hopeful that we will grow here since we are among the first movers.
What is your overall take on the green transition? Are you optimistic about meeting the goals set for 2050?
In my opinion, we are not doing enough; people see 2050 as a long way off. I believe in technology, but it will be difficult unless we all put our heads down and commit to making this change. Targets have been pushed back over time; for example, the Kyoto Protocol in the 1990s established a set of goals, but we are still not where we should be.
On our end, we're doing everything we can. I want to leave something good for our children so they can enjoy the planet as much as we did. Everyone must contribute, no matter how small, to get us there.
