Calgary Hosts Canada’s Largest Clean Energy Conference
More than 2,600 people attended Canada’s premier clean-energy industry conference and exhibition, the flagship conference of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), held again this year in Calgary, Alberta.
Held from October 21 to 23, Electricity Transformation Canada (ETC) 2024 offered an in-depth educational program in which more than 125 speakers covered topics focusing on the risks and opportunities facing the industry, the affordability of renewables, growth across Canada, and much more.
The three-day conference also featured more than 150 exhibitors showcasing new and innovative technology solutions from distributors, engineers, investors, installers and manufacturers in the sector of wind energy, solar energy, energy storage and other clean energy technologies.
“We have now entered the Age of Electricity, in which affordability is paramount—and CanREA members are building the lowest-cost electricity generation sources in the world today. Complemented by energy storage, wind and solar will accelerate our transition to a sustainable energy future,” said Vittoria Bellissimo, CanREA’s President and CEO, in her opening remarks on Monday night.
Her remarks echoed the International Energy Agency’s new World Energy Outlook, released last week, which states that clean energy is entering the energy system at an unprecedented rate, including more than 560 GW of new renewables capacity added in 2023, investment flows to clean energy projects approaching 2 trillion USD each year, and electricity use growing at twice the pace of overall energy demand over the last decade.
“Globally, there has never been so much investment in new, affordable, clean sources of electricity,” Bellissimo pointed out, adding that, here in Canada, we need to make a commitment to clean energy, with a diverse energy strategy that will allow us to meet a rising demand for electricity.
“In Canada, provinces across the country are actively investing in renewables and energy storage, with more than 10,000 MW of upcoming procurements currently either underway, being procured, or being planned, representing well over $20B in investment,” she said.
These procurements are all tracked in CanREA’s clean-energy procurement calendar, a central resource for wind, solar and energy storage procurement opportunities across Canada. CanREA launched a beta version of this calendar on day three of ETC, which is available here: https://renewablesassociation.ca/canreas-clean-energy-procurement-calendar/
With electricity's role in Canada’s energy landscape growing ever-more significant, the discussions at ETC are more timely than ever.
Don’t miss out next year, when ETC 2025 will be held October 6 to 8 at the Enercare Center in Toronto, Ontario.
Quotes
“We have now entered the Age of Electricity, in which affordability is paramount—and CanREA members are building the lowest-cost electricity generation sources in the world today. Complemented by energy storage, wind and solar will accelerate our transition to a sustainable energy future. Globally, there has never been so much investment in new, affordable, clean sources of electricity. In Canada, provinces across the country are actively investing in renewables and energy storage, with more than 10,000 MW of upcoming procurements currently either underway, being procured, or being planned, representing well over $20B in investment.”
—Vittoria Bellissimo, President and CEO, Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA)
Electricity Transformation Canada | https://electricity-transformation.ca/
Canadian Renewable Energy Association | https://renewablesassociation.ca/