July Newsletter

Welcome to the July Newsletter, bringing you industry updates and news from this past month!

Ontario Renewables

Solar company from Guelph signs Direct Energy as customer for Project

Canadian Solar Inc. says it has signed on Direct Energy as a buyer for power from its Suffield solar project in Alberta. The company says the 23 megawatt project is expected to be the largest solar photovoltaic operation in the province when it is done in 2020. The project is expected to employ about 250 people during construction and power about 7,400 households annually. See more CTV News

Feds roll out $72.4M green fund for business

Applications are now being accepted from businesses across Ontario looking to become more environmentally friendly.

A total of $72.4 million of the new Climate Action Incentive Fund’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Project stream has been set aside for Ontario businesses with fewer than 500 employees who want to go greener.

Projects eligible for funding include:

•  switches to low-emitting fuels in buildings, agriculture, industry, and transportation; 
•  building and vehicle retrofits that save energy by improving efficiency or reducing waste;
•  improvements to the energy efficiency of industrial and agricultural processes; and
•  low-emission fuel production or renewable energy production for own use.

See more Northern Ontario Business

Canadian Renewables

Canada’s clean energy sector is big, growing fast—and largely unknown

Canada’s clean energy sector is growing in value by almost 5% every year, which is a third faster than Canada’s economy as a whole. Jobs in this industry have grown nearly 60% faster than the Canadian average, and investment has increased by 70% between 2010 and 2017. Renewable energy supply is also one of the biggest industries, providing 40% of the sector’s GDP contribution. See more Clean Energy Canada

Alberta’s Renewable Energy Sector – Like Ontario?

The leader of Alberta’s United Conservative Party, Jason Kenney, has vowed that no government money will go to support the province’s renewable energy industry if he is elected when voters go to the polls this spring.

After Ontario Premier Doug Ford was elected last summer, he scrapped 758 long-term contracts with renewable energy companies and set out to eliminate the province’s Green Energy Act. With multi-decade contracts in place, it is unclear where Kenney stands on the cancellation of contracts. He said in last week’s press conference that he would not cancel what he called “good-faith contracts.” However, his bottom line was that he would not subsidize renewables. So would he uphold contracts with a minimum-price guarantee? Dan Balaban, the CEO and president of Greengate Power in Calgary, stated that “The challenge in renewables in Alberta has been the lack of availability of long-term power purchase agreements”. He is, however, confident that the industry will remain viable regardless of who wins the upcoming election. See more The Narwhal

Alberta town becomes solar-powered net zero community

What began as a friendly rivalry between two southern Alberta towns has ended with what may be one of the most extensive programs of solar power anywhere in the country.

Raymond, an agricultural community of about 4,000, has operated nine municipal buildings and all of its street lights by the sun since last fall. It sells excess solar power to the electrical grid when it can and buys it back when it needs to. See more Global News

Global Renewables

Renewable energy providing more electricity than coal and nuclear power combined in Germany

In Germany, solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric power generated almost half of the country’s output in the first six months of 2019. 15% less carbon dioxide was produced, compared to the same period of 2018. Germany is also aiming to phase out nuclear power plants by 2022. See more Independent

China sets up world’s largest solar farm

China is now home to the world’s largest floating solar power farm, which stretches across an old coal mining town in the province of Anhui. It has enough electricity to power 15,000 homes with a capacity of 40MW, and occupies more than 800,000 square metres. See more Global News

Wind has overtaken coal for energy use in Texas for the first time

For the first time since the Electric Reliability Council of Texas began collecting data on the state’s fuel mix in 2003, wind surpassed coal as an energy source during the first half of this year. However, natural gas use still dwarfs the use of wind and coal, as it accounts for 40% of the state’s energy in total. See more USA Today

N-Sci Technologies Updates

One of our newest employees, AJ, celebrated his 6 month anniversary this month – Congratulations!

We’re staying busy this summer – but we’re hoping that you’re all enjoying the great weather and staying safe! Don’t forget, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or would like to do business with us; drop us an email by going to nsci.ca/contact-us .