RELEVER LE DÉFI : ATTEINDRE LA CARBONEUTRALITÉ DU RÉSEAU EN ALBERTA

The report concludes that Alberta has the natural resources and capacity to decarbonize its electricity production almost completely within the next decade. It highlights a transition dominated by wind, solar, and natural gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS), while noting that the primary challenge is not land availability but the expansion of transmission infrastructure to meet a potentially doubling demand for electricity driven by industrial electrification.

• Alberta has the capacity and natural resources to almost completely decarbonize its electricity production within the next ten years, aligning with the flexibility of the updated federal Clean Electricity Regulations.
• Most models agree that low-cost wind and solar energy, supplemented by existing and expanded gas plants equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS), will be the primary new sources of electricity production in Alberta over the next decade.
• The Navius Research model indicates that to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality, wind and solar production must increase by 650% by 2040 compared to 2023 levels, providing over 100 terawatt-hours annually.
• Electricity demand in Alberta is projected to more than double by 2040, largely driven by the electrification of industrial processes, residential heat pumps, and electric vehicles.
• Transmission constraints are already hindering wind and solar production, with constrained volumes increasing from 14 gigawatt-hours in late 2022 to 188 gigawatt-hours in 2023.
• Land use for renewable energy is not a significant barrier; even under optimistic growth scenarios, only 800 square kilometers of land would be directly needed for wind and solar infrastructure out of over 650,000 square kilometers of province territory.
• The federal Clean Electricity Regulations are expected to have a relatively small impact on the long-term composition of Alberta's energy supply compared to the influence of industrial carbon pricing and the pace of industrial electrification.
• While CCS is central to most models, private sector deployment in Alberta remains uncertain, as evidenced by Capital Power's recent decision to stop CCS activities for its gas plants due to financial unfeasibility.
• Alberta's transition away from coal was faster than predicted, with the last coal plant expected to be converted by 2024, largely due to the increasing cost of industrial carbon pricing.

APA

Weis, T. (2024). RELEVER LE DÉFI : ATTEINDRE LA CARBONEUTRALITÉ DU RÉSEAU EN ALBERTA. Canadian Climate Institute. https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Decarboniser-le-reseau-en-Alberta-1.pdf

Chicago

Weis, Tim. RELEVER LE DÉFI : ATTEINDRE LA CARBONEUTRALITÉ DU RÉSEAU EN ALBERTA. Canadian Climate Institute, 2024. https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Decarboniser-le-reseau-en-Alberta-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Weis |first1=Tim |title=RELEVER LE DÉFI : ATTEINDRE LA CARBONEUTRALITÉ DU RÉSEAU EN ALBERTA |publisher=Canadian Climate Institute |date=August 2024 |url=https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Decarboniser-le-reseau-en-Alberta-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{weis2024relever, author = {Weis, Tim}, title = {{RELEVER LE DÉFI : ATTEINDRE LA CARBONEUTRALITÉ DU RÉSEAU EN ALBERTA}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2024}, month = aug, url = {https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Decarboniser-le-reseau-en-Alberta-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }