Government of Alberta Invests $33M Through ERA to Reshape how Energy is Transported, Managed, and Used

April 8, 2024

The Government of Alberta is investing $33.7 million in 13 projects through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s (ERA) Reshaping Energy Systems funding competition. These projects, valued at approximately $88 million in public and private investment, focus on technologies that will reduce emissions and contribute to a more flexible and sustainable energy grid in Alberta.

Projects are focused on expanding Alberta’s hydrogen fueling station infrastructure, studying the feasibility of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs), using ultrasonic sensors and Artificial Intelligence to predict power line failures, and more. All funding is sourced from the Government of Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund.

The funding amounts range from $500,000 to $6.5 million, and each project will be piloted, demonstrated, or deployed within Alberta. This significant investment will advance technologies focused on the transport, distribution, storage, and optimization of energy use to reduce emissions, create economic opportunities, and enable a more resilient, efficient, and reliable energy system.

If successful, these projects are estimated to deliver annual GHG reductions of 119 thousand tonnes, cumulative reductions of almost 580 thousand by 2030 and 2.7 million tonnes by 2050. This funding is also expected to create 830 person-year jobs in Alberta and have a $125 million GDP impact in the province by 2025.

Projects include:

AltaLink Investment Limited Partnership
Evaluating the implementation of a first-of-kind large-scale transmission battery energy storage system to the Alberta electric grid. 
ERA Funding: $1,500,000 | Project Cost: $3,000,000

Atlas Power Technologies, Inc.
Combining a supercapacitor-based energy storage system (SC-ESS) with a hydroelectric generating facility in Alberta, to provide fast responding reliability services to Alberta’s power grid.
ERA Funding: $6,500,000 | Project Cost: $14,102,261

Cable Coatings Limited T/A AssetCool
Applying a cooling coating to overhead electric power lines that reduces the lines’ temperature, increases their energy capacity, and avoids the need for line upgrades or expansions.
ERA Funding: $504,649 | Project Cost: $1,009,298

Crux Operations Control Management Limited
Piloting two software products that autonomously adjust oil and gas pipeline operations to optimize energy usage. 
ERA Funding: $1,500,000 | Project Cost: $3,000,000

CRWN.ai
Using ultrasonic sensors and Artificial Intelligence to predict failures on the most remote electric power lines before they happen.
ERA Funding: $785,000 | Project Cost: $1,622,914

Graph Energy Inc.
Boosting fuel efficiency and lowering GHG emissions with graphene ultracapacitor energy storage for diesel and natural gas generators.
ERA Funding: $2,512,650 | Project Cost: $5,025,300

HTEC Hydrogen Technology & Energy Corporation
Developing a high-capacity hydrogen fueling station in Crossfield, AB, enabling an initial fleet of over 25 hydrogen fuel cell trucks to serve southern and central Alberta.
ERA Funding: $2,062,500 | Project Cost: $8,250,000

Landmark Group of Companies
Connecting a group of highly energy-efficient solar + storage homes to become a virtual power plant that will improve the resiliency of the electrical grid and enable the wide adoption of net zero homes.
ERA Funding: $3,303,300 | Project Cost: $6,874,600

Onboard Dynamics
Launching a system in Alberta for capturing and recovering natural gas during pipeline maintenance operations, thereby preventing methane releases into the atmosphere and providing a sustainable alternative to the conventional methods of venting and flaring natural gas.
ERA Funding: $515,000 | Project Cost: $1,030,000

Telsec Property Corporation
Combining geoexchange district heating, solar PV, and intelligent controls to decarbonize multi-family homes. 
ERA Funding: $2,125,000 | Project Cost: $5,512,500

TERIC Power Ltd. – eLab Battery Project (Keyera)
Installing a 10 megawatt battery technology at Keyera’s Alberta EnviroFuels plant in Edmonton to provide energy storage and reliability benefits to both the industrial facility and the Alberta grid.
ERA Funding: $6,449,326 | Project Cost: $19,205,410

TERIC Power Ltd. – Fluiditi Battery Storage Project
Delivering cost competitive and reliable power with reduced GHG emissions, through time-shifting renewable energy generation, and providing grid operating services to the Alberta Electric System Operator.
ERA Funding: $5,271,500 | Project Cost: $18,210,000

X-energy Canada
Conducting an initial feasibility study regarding the potential benefits of deploying a small modular nuclear reactor at a repurposed fossil fuel power plant site.
ERA Funding: $623,152 | Project Cost: $1,277,790

Projects were selected through ERA’s competitive review process. A team of experts in science, engineering, business development, commercialization, financing, and greenhouse gas quantification conducted an independent, rigorous, transparent review overseen by a Fairness Monitor.

All ERA funding recipients must produce a final outcomes report shared publicly for the broader benefit of Alberta and other funding proposals. Funding recipients will be required to report on project outcomes, achievements, and lessons learned including GHG reductions, job creation, and other environmental, economic, and social benefits.

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