2023 was quite a year for carbon capture and storage in Western Canada. In Alberta, work proceeded to establish new carbon hubs to capture CO2 and transport it by pipeline to permanent storage facilities. We explore Alberta’s carbon hubs, The regulatory environment for carbon storage across Western Canada, and Incentives for CCUS development.
Everyone was watching earlier in the year when the federal government circulated draft Clean Electricity Regulations with the goal of a net-zero electrical grid by 2035. It remains to be seen whether the final version of the regulations will be responsive to concerns expressed by Alberta and Saskatchewan about reliability and affordability. This is discussed in Canada’s Clean Electricity Regulations on page 25.
After experiencing two grid alerts during intense summer heat, the province of Alberta temporarily paused licences for new wind and solar projects. You can find the current status in Alberta’s pause on approval of new wind and solar projects on page 28.
The year ended with a welcome dose of certainty about the rules of the game. The Supreme Court of Canada weighed in with guidance to assist federal and provincial authorities to sort out their respective spheres of authority when approving major projects, and the regulation of carbon emissions generally. We summarize the Court ruling in Impact Assessment Act found to be mostly unconstitutionalon page 22.
Liquefied natural gas export plants continued gaining traction on the West Coast this year, governments and utilities were planning for a net-zero future, and developers and First Nations were pursuing major energy projects of every kind. We provide a rundown in The 2023 energy roundup across Western Canada on page 50.
Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) litigation continues to heat up and mandatory ESG disclosures are increasing the risk. This issue is canvassed in Global climate litigation continues to heat up, highlighting ESG risks on page 36.
And, speaking of litigation, we’ve included a summary of Court cases focused on Western Canada in When you can’t agree: Recent Court decisions in the energy field on page 60.
All this and much more!
We’ll send this highly anticipated e-book right to your inbox.
