The government of Canada unveiled CA$10 billion (US$7.53 billion) worth of “new major infrastructure initiatives” last week, with the inclusion of energy storage warmly welcomed by trade group Energy Storage Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new Growth Plan to be delivered through the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB) last Thursday. The three-year plan to invest in infrastructure is a key part of a drive to create jobs and economic growth in the wake of the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
With the hope of creating around 60,000 jobs throughout the country, the Growth Plan focuses on areas including agriculture and internet connectivity as well as helping to build a resilient and sustainable low-carbon economy.
A quarter of the pledged CA$10 billion will go towards clean power initiatives, “to support renewable generation and storage,” a government statement read, as well as transmitting clean electricity between Canada’s provinces, territories and regions, with northern and Indigenous communities among them.
With a further CA$500 million to be allocated by the CIB to directly support project development and early construction works, the plan is part of the government’s overall CA$180 billion commitment to investing in new infrastructure in the country. CIB chair Michael Sabia said that “every dollar of investment” in the Growth Plan initiatives is “intended to attract additional dollars from private and institutional investors”.
Justin Wahid Rangooni, executive director of Energy Storage Canada, told Energy-Storage.news that the group, which began as a trade association for Ontario’s booming storage sector but has since encompassed national representation, “is encouraged to see that energy storage was specifically referenced in the Federal Government announcement”.
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