Varcoe: Dow’s megaproject highlights energy transition ‘opportunity’

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Risk or alternative?

For years, the concept of decarbonizing Alberta’s vitality sector has typically been seen as a danger to the oil and gasoline trade, in addition to funding and jobs within the province.

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As we speak, it’s more and more seen as a chance, with new tasks being constructed and new workers being employed.

Take, for instance, Dow Inc.’s huge $9-billion, net-zero petrochemical mission being inbuilt Fort Saskatchewan, together with a handful of different main developments advancing throughout the province.

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“We’ve near 1,000 folks in varied areas around the globe who’re already engaged on the design work. As we speak, on website, we perhaps have 200 or 300 (folks) who’re engaged on dust work,” Dow Canada vice-president Don Cameron, the corporate’s Alberta operations website chief, mentioned in an interview.

“We anticipate from now, actually via the top of subsequent summer season, ramping as much as what’s going to finally most likely be someplace round 6,000 building employees on the location.”

That’s a staggering variety of extremely expert employees required as building will increase over the following 16 months.

But, the sheer variety of jobs and measurement of the overall funding in play — it might simply high $10 billion, because the mission leverages spending from third-party corporations — underscores the very actual prospects for Alberta within the vitality transition.

Each the federal and provincial governments have adopted a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, though they continue to be locked in a bitter battle over vitality and environmental insurance policies.

Alberta has huge pure assets, together with the geology and skill to seize and sequester carbon emissions underground.

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The province has a extremely expert workforce and expertise in constructing large-scale tasks. Regardless of their bickering, the province and Ottawa efficiently put incentives on the desk, enabling Dow’s facility to proceed.

To grab the alternatives forward, the vitality trade will want good public coverage from all ranges of presidency, be capable of finance tasks and undertake know-how, mentioned Gary Mar, CEO of the Canada West Basis.

“For my part, (decarbonization) is each a menace and a chance, however you possibly can mitigate the menace with good public coverage,” Mar mentioned.

“I consider hydrocarbons will nonetheless be an vital a part of our economic system for many years to come back. However how you’re taking the income from oil and gasoline and apply it to the transition, to new types of vitality down the highway, is vital.”

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The Dow mission contains constructing a brand new ethylene cracker and derivatives complicated, which can improve the corporate’s polyethylene manufacturing capability at its present manufacturing amenities in Fort Saskatchewan by two million tonnes each year.

The event will create as much as 6,000 to 7,000 jobs throughout the peak of building, and as much as 500 full-time positions as soon as it’s totally working later this decade.

“From Dow’s perspective, after we take a look at decarbonization, it’s extra of a chance,” Cameron mentioned.

“It’s a tremendous alternative for Dow, for Alberta, to essentially set a management position on the earth. This isn’t simply in Canada . . . That is the primary petrochem complicated that can constructed instantly web zero.

“And the entire world is us saying, ‘Can this be carried out?’ And we’re going to point out it, proper right here in Alberta.”

Dow isn’t the one main decarbonization mission that’s transferring forward. In Edmonton, Air Merchandise is constructing a $1.6-billion net-zero hydrogen vitality complicated.

Firm officers mentioned Wednesday that underground work and concrete foundations are in place and tools for the ability is arriving on website. There are about 300 employees on the location.

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Different main decarbonization developments and net-zero tasks throughout Alberta have additionally been pitched, however await remaining funding choices.

This contains the $16.5-billion carbon seize community proposed by oilsands operators within the Pathways Alliance, and Capital Energy’s carbon seize and storage improvement close to its Genesee Producing Station.

Final yr, executives with Heidelberg Supplies and Ottawa signed an MOU to help constructing the world’s first carbon-neutral cement plant on the firm’s Edmonton facility.

Calgary-based ATCO is evaluating alternatives to export clear hydrogen and derivatives to Asia from its proposed Heartland Hydrogen Hub, and it’s finding out the event of a carbon sequestration hub with Shell.

“Alberta’s vitality transition will contain including every kind of latest vitality to our province,” Bob Myles, chief working officer with ATCO EnPower, mentioned in an announcement. “Clear fuels, renewables and pure gasoline will all play a task.”

One of many largest challenges will likely be discovering sufficient workers to make the transition a actuality.

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After talking on Tuesday at a petrochemical convention in Calgary, Cameron mentioned hiring expert employees all through the development part of the mission will probably be one among Dow’s main challenges.

In the meantime, a nationwide labour report launched final month by Careers in Power mentioned the sector might add as much as 116,000 jobs inside a decade.

With the anticipated retirement of virtually 70,000 vitality employees, and one other 46,500 new jobs being created by trade, it might result in web hiring of between 110,000 and 116,000 positions.

The established vitality sectors will create the lion’s share of the brand new jobs by 2035, though rising sectors will account for eight to 10 per cent of projected new positions.

In February, Canada’s vitality trade instantly employed about 200,000 folks.

Gurpreet Lail, CEO of Enserva, an trade group that represents the vitality providers, provide and manufacturing companies, mentioned companies will want hundreds of individuals to enter the sector within the coming years. New employees will likely be required in each conventional oil and gasoline, and rising vitality.

“On the subject of decarbonization, there’s an enormous alternative and will probably be good for the economic system,” Lail added.

“Rhetoric that’s been on the market — that it is a dying trade — goes to die itself . . . This trade has developed, and funding will observe.”

Chris Varcoe is Calgary Herald columnist.

cvarcoe@postmedia.com

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