Industrial Electrification

The report argues that while Canada has a competitive advantage in clean electricity, industrial electrification is stalled by technical gaps, grid reliability concerns, and the low cost of natural gas. It focuses on the manufacturing, mining, and construction sectors, noting that industry electricity use must increase from 25% to 41% by 2050. To accelerate this, the authors propose three primary catalysts: the development of near-term corporate electrification plans and pilots, the alignment of utility planning with net-zero pathways to ensure power supply, and the use of financial mechanisms like carbon contracts for difference to provide carbon pricing certainty.

• Industrial energy use and processes, excluding oil, gas, and refining, account for approximately 15% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions.
• The Canadian industrial sector currently derives more than 25% of its energy from electricity, but this must rise to 41% by 2050 to meet net-zero goals, while simultaneously reducing total energy consumption.
• Electrification potential varies significantly by sector; aluminum production already meets over 80% of its energy needs with electricity, whereas mining uses less than 10% and construction uses virtually none.
• Three primary barriers hinder industrial electrification: the lack of technical readiness for processes like cement and steel, a lack of confidence in the reliability and availability of the electricity grid, and the economic challenge posed by cheap natural gas.
• To overcome the 'poor near-term business case' caused by low-cost natural gas, BC Hydro has implemented a Fuel Switching Rate providing a 20% discount on energy and demand charges for the first five years for projects with a load of at least 20 GWh.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2022). Industrial Electrification. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-05/industrial-electrification-en.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Industrial Electrification. 2022. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-05/industrial-electrification-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Industrial Electrification |date=May 2022 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-05/industrial-electrification-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2022industrial, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Industrial Electrification}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-05/industrial-electrification-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }