The new incentives for clean energy development in the federal government's fall fiscal update will make a real difference in helping to attract investment capital to Canada, the chief executive of Enbridge Inc. said Friday.On a conference call to discuss the pipeline giant's third quarter financial results, CEO Al Monaco said the Calgary-based company is encouraged by measures announced by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Thursday.
As part of an effort to encourage the growth of low-carbon energy alternatives, as well as to keep Canada competitive with the U.S. and its massive Inflation Reduction Act, Freeland said Thursday the federal government will create two new federal tax credits for clean technology and low-emitting hydrogen production.
Enbridge, for example — which moves about 30 per cent of the crude oil produced in North America and transports nearly 20 per cent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. — also has a growing offshore wind portfolio, and has proposed low-carbon projects using new technologies such as hydrogen, renewable natural gas, and carbon capture and storage.
Dilling added Pathways is also encouraged by the establishment of the $15-billion Canada Growth Fund, which was previously announced in April and will be launched by the end of the year. The goal of the fund is to help mitigate the risks private investors assume when they invest in new technologies. The oil and gas sector in particular has come under fire from critics in recent months who have said more of the windfall profits the industry has reaped in 2022 since Russia's invasion of Ukraine should be re-invested in local communities and green technologies, instead of share buybacks and dividends for shareholders.
"In past booms, some of those profits would stay in the country and have been reinvested into their future operations. Oil demand is set to decline this decade, and to stay competitive in a low-carbon energy future, Canada’s oil and gas sector must make concrete plans to invest in the decarbonization projects that will future-proof their own operations."