Threat or opportunity?
For years, the idea of decarbonizing Alberta’s energy sector has often been viewed as a risk to the oil and gas industry, as well as investment and jobs in the province.
Today, it’s increasingly seen as an opportunity, with new projects being built and new employees being hired.
Take, for example, Dow Inc.’s massive $9-billion, net-zero petrochemical project being built in Fort Saskatchewan, along with a handful of other major developments advancing across the province.
“We have close to 1,000 people in various locations around the world who are already working on the design work. Today, on site, we maybe have 200 or 300 (people) who are working on dirt work,” Dow Canada vice-president Don Cameron, the company’s Alberta operations site leader, said in an interview.
“We anticipate from now, really through the end of next summer, ramping up to what will eventually probably be somewhere around 6,000 construction workers on the site.”
That’s a staggering number of highly skilled workers required as construction increases over the next 16 months.
Yet, the sheer number of jobs and size of the total investment in play — it could easily top $10 billion, as the project leverages spending from third-party companies — underscores the very real prospects for Alberta in the energy transition.
Both the federal and provincial governments have adopted a target of net-zero emissions by 2050, although they remain locked in a bitter conflict over energy and environmental policies.
Alberta has massive natural resources, along with the geology and ability to capture and sequester carbon emissions underground.
The province has a highly skilled workforce and experience in building large-scale projects. Despite their bickering, the province and Ottawa successfully put incentives on the table, enabling Dow’s facility to proceed.
To seize the opportunities ahead, the energy industry will need good public policy from all levels of government, be able to finance projects and adopt technology, said Gary Mar, CEO of the Canada West Foundation.
“In my view, (decarbonization) is both a threat and an opportunity, but you can mitigate the threat with good public policy,” Mar said.
“I believe hydrocarbons will still be an important part of our economy for decades to come. But how you take the revenue from oil and gas and apply it to the transition, to new forms of energy down the road, is important.”
The Dow project includes building a new ethylene cracker and derivatives complex, which will increase the company’s polyethylene production capacity at its existing manufacturing facilities in Fort Saskatchewan by two million tonnes per annum.
The development will create up to 6,000 to 7,000 jobs during the peak of construction, and up to 500 full-time positions once it’s fully operating later this decade.
“From Dow’s perspective, when we look at decarbonization, it’s more of an opportunity,” Cameron said.
“It is an amazing opportunity for Dow, for Alberta, to really set a leadership role in the world. This isn’t just in Canada . . . This is the first petrochem complex that will built directly net zero.
“And the whole world is looking at us saying, ‘Can this be done?’ And we’re going to show it, right here in Alberta.”
Dow isn’t the only major decarbonization project that is moving ahead. In Edmonton, Air Products is building a $1.6-billion net-zero hydrogen energy complex.
Company officials said Wednesday that underground work and concrete foundations are in place and equipment for the facility is arriving on site. There are about 300 workers at the location.
Other major decarbonization developments and net-zero projects across Alberta have also been pitched, but await final investment decisions.
This includes the $16.5-billion carbon capture network proposed by oilsands operators in the Pathways Alliance, and Capital Power’s carbon capture and storage development near its Genesee Generating Station.
Last year, executives with Heidelberg Materials and Ottawa signed an MOU to support building the world’s first carbon-neutral cement plant at the company’s Edmonton facility.
Calgary-based ATCO is evaluating opportunities to export clean hydrogen and derivatives to Asia from its proposed Heartland Hydrogen Hub, and it’s studying the development of a carbon sequestration hub with Shell.
“Alberta’s energy transition will involve adding all kinds of new energy to our province,” Bob Myles, chief operating officer with ATCO EnPower, said in a statement. “Clean fuels, renewables and natural gas will all play a role.”
One of the biggest challenges will be finding enough employees to make the transition a reality.
After speaking on Tuesday at a petrochemical conference in Calgary, Cameron said hiring skilled workers throughout the construction phase of the project will likely be one of Dow’s major challenges.
Meanwhile, a national labour report released last month by Careers in Energy said the sector could add up to 116,000 jobs within a decade.
With the expected retirement of almost 70,000 energy workers, and another 46,500 new jobs being created by industry, it could lead to net hiring of between 110,000 and 116,000 positions.
The established energy sectors will create the lion’s share of the new jobs by 2035, although emerging sectors will account for eight to 10 per cent of projected new positions.
In February, Canada’s energy industry directly employed about 200,000 people.
Gurpreet Lail, CEO of Enserva, an industry group that represents the energy services, supply and manufacturing firms, said businesses will need thousands of people to enter the sector in the coming years. New workers will be required in both traditional oil and gas, and emerging energy.
“When it comes to decarbonization, there’s a huge opportunity and it will be good for the economy,” Lail added.
“Rhetoric that’s been out there — that this is a dying industry — is going to die itself . . . This industry has evolved, and investment will follow.”
Chris Varcoe is Calgary Herald columnist.
cvarcoe@postmedia.com
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