Chelsea Donelon

Manager, Energy Innovation

One of our most pressing challenges is finding solutions to climate change and achieving a net-zero emissions energy system. Building on its century-long history of innovation, TransAlta is at the forefront of the transition to clean energy.

The pace of technological change is happening quickly. There are lots of potential solutions, some of which have great promise, so finding the right mix that is reliable, cost-effective, and low emitting energy is an urgent focus. This is the motivation behind TransAlta’s Energy Innovation team.

Using innovation to replace electricity generated from fossil fuels with clean alternatives

“We’ve long been innovators. We were early in Alberta to harness wind power, we converted coal plants into natural gas, we’ve built battery storage, and now we’re looking at the next technology to make energy even cleaner,” says Blain van Melle, TransAlta’s Executive Vice President, Alberta Business. “We want to be a problem solver, not only for Alberta and Canada but globally.”

With its Energy Innovation (EI) team and significant investments in new technologies, TransAlta is all-in when it comes to delivering net-zero energy for our customers. van Melle acknowledges some technologies may take 10 or more years to realize. “The work we do today will differentiate us in the future because there are promising solutions, such as hydrogen, that, with advances in technology, could make it a cost-effective and extremely clean source of energy,” he says.

TransAlta has set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The company has already reduced its emissions by 29 MT/year or approximately 70 per cent from 2005 levels. TransAlta’s Clean Electricity Growth Plan is focused on building new clean energy generation for customers in the near term and incorporating new technology solutions over the medium and long term. To help meet this challenge, TransAlta created the EI team to identify, invest in, and deploy commercially promising net-zero energy solutions that can meaningfully reduce emissions in the next decade.

Connecting innovators with capital and business know-how

The promise of technology as a key part of solving energy transition challenges inspired TransAlta to make an early-stage $2 million equity investment in Vancouver-based Ekona Power. Ekona’s promising approach to producing clean hydrogen, a proprietary type of pyrolysis, is poised to transform the hydrogen industry by offering cost-effective hydrogen production with 90+ per cent fewer emissions than conventional steam methane reformer technologies for producing the energy transition fuel. If successful, Ekona’s method would be low-cost, scalable, and could be located at industrial sites where energy is needed, saving on expensive infrastructure to transport energy. TransAlta’s investment will help Ekona develop, pilot, and commercialize its pyrolysis technology.

Passion fueling the search for clean technologies

EI manager Chelsea Donelon is passionate about the opportunity to bring TransAlta’s deep experience in developing and operating clean energy technologies together with her team’s concern for the rapidly warming climate, their convictions about the urgency of removing carbon from our energy systems, and their creativity for identifying and developing clean generation solutions.

“This focus on addressing our impact on the climate increasingly shows up in people demanding more from their work than a decent pay cheque. It’s also about making a contribution. When you’re coming to work with a contribution mindset, and you feel supported, not only does that allow us to attract top-tier talent passionate and committed to finding innovative transition solutions, it also allows us to really think creatively and holistically about the energy we produce.”

More investments and innovation led by TransAlta’s Energy Innovation Team

Further strengthening its position as a leader in the clean energy transition, TransAlta made a US$25 million commitment to the Energy Impact Partners Deep Decarbonization Frontier Fund, which is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs to bring early-stage innovative solutions that will accelerate the transition to net zero. The fund’s collaborative model gives TransAlta the opportunity to identify, pilot, commercialize, and bring to market technologies that will support its own decarbonization goals.

“This investment could be a game-changer for us since it allows us to pool our funds with some of the biggest utilities in the U.S. and Europe,” says Donelon. “We can work together and pursue breakthrough technologies.”

TransAlta also permitted WaterCharger this fall, a 180 MW battery energy storage project proposed near the Bow River west of Cochrane, Alta. The project will be a first-of-its-kind global deployment using hydroelectric power generated from the Ghost Dam to charge lithium-ion batteries next to the dam. The stored power can be used to provide grid services to the system operator, reducing the likelihood of power interruptions and other reliability events.

While TransAlta pushes forward with clean energy solutions, van Melle acknowledges the government’s critical role in fostering innovation through enabling policies, and funding new technologies.

“Think about it. We’re only seven years away from the next federal government emissions target (40–45 per cent below 2005 emissions by 2030) and 12 from the next one for the electricity sector (nationwide net-zero grid by 2035). This means transitioning our supply mix by developing thousands and thousands of new, clean megawatts of electricity. That’s not much time. Public dollars are needed to catalyze the transition by enabling new technologies to become commercially viable, and after that, the private sector can take over and deploy these technologies at scale. That’s what happened with wind and solar power,” says van Melle.

Governments need to create a level playing field for technologies that can contribute to an affordable and reliable net-zero future. Policy should be crafted to incent outcomes and allow markets to decide what technologies will advance Canada’s transition. According to Donelon, “When we think about government funding, we need to think about where are the technologies that truly have the ability to achieve affordable, reliable, net-zero electricity. And then it’s about funneling enough capital and funding to get those technologies through to commercialization to let the market drive cost reductions for consumers through economies of scale. That’s where private capital is available to finance them, where people understand the risk and the deployment of the technology. It’s also at this point where the government can then step aside and say we no longer have a role to play here.”

TransAlta’s experience developing and operating clean generation technologies, combined with the commitment and creativity to solve transition challenges, positions the company as a clean energy leader in Canada’s energy transition.

The post Energizing the Future: How TransAlta Is Leading the Transition to Net-Zero Energy appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Within the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, which list fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, clean technology is just as needed for success

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emerged in 2015 from an urgent call to action by all nations in global partnership to create a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” through the United Nations General Assembly. Ending poverty, forming strategies to improve health and education, reducing inequality, and preserving nature and biodiversity are all included in these Global Goals. While extraordinarily ambitious, the difficulty behind achieving said goals also emerged from the additional goal to see them reached by the year 2030. To those following the global progress so far, it should come as no surprise to read that clean technology has become fundamental for the implementation of each solution and is further developing into the cornerstone of similar sustainability frameworks in support of the 2030 agenda.

Within the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, which list fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, clean technology is just as needed for success. On Principle Nine: Environment, as defined in Agenda 21 of the Rio Declaration, clean technologies “should protect the environment, are less polluting, use all resources in a more sustainable manner, recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle residual wastes in a more acceptable manner than the technologies for which they were substitutes.” Clear upsides, such as the reduction of raw material used for increased resource efficiency, the emergence of new business opportunities via innovation, and even an increase in energy and cost efficiency, have been observed within companies utilizing cleantech. The economic and environmental impacts allow businesses to benefit across the long term and the planet as well.

The UN Global Compact Network Canada further explores these concepts within its webinar series, Raising Corporate Ambition for Environmental Sustainability: Canada’s Road to COP27, and particularly in the episode titled Climate Change & Technology: Shifting Mindsets towards Innovation Adoption. Canadian businesses champion clean technology in stunning ways elaborated by foremost experts, including Tom Chervinsky, Head of External Affairs and Social Capitalism, Public Policy Team at TELUS; Louis-Philippe Gagné, Manager of the Net-Zero Challenge at Environment and Climate Change Canada; Namit Nath Bhargava, Market Unit Lead of Canada Sustainability Services at Accenture; and Paige Whitehead, the CEO and Co-founder of Nyoka.

This session highlights prominent corporate, start-up, and government leaders’ efforts to accelerate technological innovation adoption. The Canadian federal government understands the value well, aiding companies in their pursuit of leveraging technology to accomplish climate objectives through the Strategic Innovation Fund, which allocates $200 million to innovative sectors like clean technology and bioscience. Public-private partnerships invest in innovative ideas and also provide education — a crucial prerequisite to technological innovation.

Many businesses find gaps in their knowledge and room for a stronger capacity to measure their impact. While grateful for the discussion, the UN Global Compact Network Canada also takes the conversation into action via programmes and events. These are geared to bring forward innovation, solve knowledge gaps, and equip its network to sufficiently tackle the SDGs. In particular, the SDG Innovator Accelerator is a 10-month virtual programme that has successfully activated future business leaders and change-makers to solve SDG challenges within their respective companies. Equipping young professionals with the knowledge, tools, and skills they need to translate their innovative ideas into tangible projects not only progresses their company’s sustainability objectives but also improves the market value of their companies.

Coming full circle to the aim for the SDGs to be solved by 2030, an emphasis must be placed on solutions that bring forward not only incremental change but also radical shifts in processes. We aren’t globally on track to fulfil the Global Goals with a business-as-usual approach, so within the UN Global Compact Network Canada’s programme structure and the broader UN network, there has been a growing interest in leveraging disruptive innovation and tech.

Disruptive technology displaces what is established and dramatically alters industries through ground-breaking products and services — even creating completely new industries. Past examples include the automobile, electricity service, television, or, more recently, e-commerce, online news sites, and ride-sharing. In theory, the new market and value networks formed behind these innovations enter the bottom of existing markets, eventually bringing forward displacement and change. Such technologies are already deployed to support democratized and decentralized access to energy and education, sensors to measure wildlife and alleviate overfishing, artificial intelligence to plan more efficient farms, and blockchain to improve financial privacy and security.

The possibilities are enormous, and we’re only beginning to explore the full impact of these enormous strides. The UN Global Compact has further webinars and reading materials available on the topic, such as the Thought Leadership Webinar: Realizing Decent Work Through Breakthrough Innovation – A Spotlight on Blockchain Technology, and further reading on the importance of disruptive tech within the field of sustainability is available in the 2030 Vision “Uniting to Deliver Technology for the Global Goals.”

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As communities around the globe experience a seemingly endless and worsening stream of climate-related disasters, the urgent need for innovative climate solutions has become all too clear. But there’s hope.

As communities around the globe experience a seemingly endless and worsening stream of climate-related disasters, the urgent need for innovative climate solutions has become all too clear. But there’s hope. Canadian innovators are stepping up to the challenge, and international investors, customers, and industry partners should start turning their attention to powerhouse cleantech ventures like those on Foresight Canada’s recently released Foresight 50 list.

This second annual Foresight 50 list recognizes Canada’s 50 most investable cleantech ventures that are moving the needle to net zero. From direct lithium extraction to the treatment of industrial wastewater to climate-positive fertilizers, the Foresight 50 ventures span critical sectors like energy, water, agriculture, built environment, transportation, carbon capture, natural resources, and more. We’re certain they’re going to change the world.

Why we’re so confident

As Canada’s cleantech accelerator, Foresight has been supporting entrepreneurs in their journey from ideation to commercialization since 2013. We have supported almost 900 Canadian cleantech ventures that have gone on to create more than 7,150 green jobs, raise over $1.3 billion in capital support, and generate more than $2 billion in economic impact.

Our team has a front-row seat to the development of ground-breaking cleantech solutions and has been working with brilliant innovators long enough to know that Canada is set to become a cleantech leader on the global stage.

This year’s Foresight 50 were selected from over 150 impressive applications by a panel of independent investors and cleantech community partners based on criteria including potential environmental impact, overall investability, and probability of success. Narrowing down the list was no easy task, but by looking at these 50 ventures alone, it is clear that Canada has the skills, expertise, and motivation to lead the global transition to a green economy.

The main barrier to growth

To scale their critical climate solutions, Canadian cleantech ventures need more access to capital, both domestically and internationally. In a 2021 national survey, Canadian cleantech innovators identified raising capital as one of their main barriers to growth. To attract this capital, companies need to gain the attention of international investors with the resources to propel their ventures forward.

The Foresight 50 initiative bridges this gap by bringing attention to Canada’s most promising cleantech ventures while directly connecting these companies with potential investors, customers, and partners. 2021 Foresight 50 ventures raised $593 million to amplify their solutions. The 2022 Foresight 50 have already secured over 100 investor meetings, with more activities planned in early 2023 to further grow their impact.

By fostering meaningful relationships with key stakeholders, Foresight 50 ventures are gaining the traction they need to raise more capital, scale their climate solutions faster, and lead the green transition.

Big solutions equal big returns

The climate crisis is perhaps the single greatest challenge the world is facing today. Investing in and deploying cleantech solutions is not just an opportunity; it’s a necessity — and for those who recognize the critical nature of these climate solutions, there is potential for immense gain. Canada’s cleantech sector remains undercapitalized compared to other markets, providing exceptional opportunities for lead investors and early movers ready to deploy capital.

Recent studies have shown that Canada is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, and globally we see the effects of climate change increasingly in our daily lives. Therefore, it’s critical that we collectively prioritize accelerating the innovative solutions that can mitigate the worst effects of climate change.

The Foresight 50 is a great place for international investors, customers, and industry partners to start investing in Canadian cleantech. And for the average consumer, there’s the opportunity to invest with your dollars in environmentally conscious Canadian goods and services. With more access to capital, Canadian cleantech solutions could mitigate the worst effects of climate change and create a more livable future for generations to come, and that’s a future we can’t wait to see.

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It was around the year 2000, and I decided to dedicate the balance of my business career to sustainability. Back then, sustainability wasn’t a common lexicon in the business world, so I had lots of work to do to shape a space and launch the final road in my career.

At the time of my epiphany, I was in the transportation sector, I stayed there, but I shifted gears. I began the promotion of decarbonizing on-road vehicles — HEV, PHEV, and EV — all in the commercial classifications. However, the knowledge gained through development and application was second to none. Many naysayers then and even today said, “I was beating a dead horse.”

In 2005, while holding down a job, Al Cormier and I founded Electric Mobility Canada, and to this day, I remain Founding Chair. For seven years as Chair, we tried to get things rolling, and we had some wins, including the green license plate program in Ontario, the Commercial HEV incentive program, and a few others. Still, our crowning achievement was the 2009 Electric Vehicle Technology Roadmap (EVTRM) for Canada. So let’s take a ride on the roadmap.

The EVTRM vision was simple — 500,000 plug-in capable four-wheeled vehicles on the roads of Canada by 2018. A tall order perhaps, but we failed to meet it. Why? The simple answer is that people fight change.

Regardless of empirical evidence, we somehow think it won’t affect us, which is so wrong and very selfish. Behaviour change can be a good thing, and the old saying of teaching an old dog new tricks is also fulfilling when the new trick makes the world a better place.

My objective is to point out the beauty of driving electric and to let all of you know that if you’re getting into this space, you need to be authentic and true — drive an EV, learn what it’s like to have a vehicle that allows you to fill up at home, to venture out, and drive saving the world, it’s invigorating.

So, you say, “hmm, but the charging takes too long,” true, but that will change and has changed since I drove my first electric vehicle in 2007, the Transit Connect Electric; we plugged it into the wall for almost three days and got 120 kilometres of range at best. Today, I plug in my IONIQ 5 for five hours at a Level 2 charge of 7.7 kilowatts, and I’m rewarded with a range of anywhere from 450–550 Km, depending upon the time of year. Ah yes, the next objection — reduced range in the colder months, correct? No different than the internal combustion engines (ICE) vehicles, but this is not something our behaviours identify because we’re conditioned to see the end of our nose and sometimes no further.

Let’s spend a moment on charging. This is the largest piece of the puzzle. The vehicles are coming, so how do we change the technology and not disturb our comfortable way of life, even if it is very expensive? Home charging is a gift, destination charging is evolving, and HUBS will soon become part of the solution. The formula for success is to build out a place that offers value and the ability to charge and “chill,” as well as a new solution for those who do not want to own any vehicle. HUBS for storage of EVs, as well as having other amenities, will transcend the market. What does this mean, and why is it so vague? Simple again, they don’t exist as we sit here today, but they are coming, and yes, the naysayers persist.

We must change to evolve; the buggy whip and the blacksmith all went away, and so will much of what we know today when it comes to the traditional service station. EV drivers and people, in general, will adopt things that are made to improve their lives and life in general. So as HUBS appear and the ability to charge in less than 15 minutes is an option, driving from Toronto to wherever in an EV will be easy. Right now, it is completely doable, but you must plan your trip if you own an EV. As Energy Hubs become commonplace, the shift to electric or sustainable transportation will help bring many to a cleaner, decarbonized form of mobility. 

I have been an advocate for Electric Vehicles and am optimistic about the future of electric traction on and off roads. If you are jumping into the space because you believe in it, then you need to become part of the solution and drive electric. We require change-makers in the world today, and starting in a positive way will help in a much larger way. One person who changes will impact many.

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