Study gauges economic effect of clean-energy sector

THE#BCBIZDAILY
Capital investment in B.C.’s clean-power industry is more than twice the investment in mining

B.C.’s clean-energy sector is spending as much on projects as the provincial health care and health care and social assistance sector, almost double the total projected investment in port and harbour facilities and more than double the projected investment in the mining sector, according to a study commissioned by the Clean Energy Association of BC.

Paul Kariya, executive director of Clean Energy BC, isn’t surprised. “We’re not a new sector—we celebrated 25 years as an industry association last year so private sector power generation selling to the grid has been around a long time,” he says, although it took off significantly in the past decade when supply gaps led BC Hydro to purchase private power. “You have to give credit to the previous premier, Gordon Campbell, because it was his policy that said, look, we should be involving the private sector in electricity generation,” says Kariya. “They bring efficiencies, they bring external capital, they take on the risk for development, and so let’s try to build a robust private sector in electricity. And that’s what’s happened.”

The study found that clean-power projects have contributed $6 billion to the provincial economy with another $2.6 billion to be invested in new projects. Located throughout the province, clean-energy projects provide an alternative source of employment in communities that traditionally relied on mining or forestry as the skill sets are similar. They also help suppliers develop new expertise. There are now 641 people working in operational roles with new projects to add 165 positions.

A quarter of BC Hydro’s energy supply comes from independent power producers, with 14 per cent from stand-alone clean-energy producers. The Clean Energy Association of British Columbia represents companies, First Nations and organizations whose primary activity is generating and selling clean, renewable electricity, unlike companies like mining or forestry that sell power back to the provincial grid as a secondary line of business. Most clean-energy operations are small hydro (run-of-river), followed by thermal power (biogas, biomass, natural gas), wind power, energy recovery and solar power.

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