Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson is allocating $28.9 million through Canada’s Energy Innovation Program for a slate of green initiatives, with carbon capture, utilization and storage emerging as the clear priority by dollar value.
The largest portion of the funding will go to five carbon capture, utilization and storage projects. Within that group, two Saskatchewan organizations will receive a combined nearly $15.0 million to support work tied to designing and understanding carbon-capture processes.
Renewable energy projects will receive more than $9.0 million, with the funding specifically directed toward solar power. The remaining funding will be directed to smart grid technologies aimed at improving the efficiency of electricity flows.
The federal government said the program is intended to promote clean technology while keeping Canadian energy reliable and competitive.
Carbon capture has been a big ticket item for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government. The Ottawa–Alberta memorandum of understanding launched in November sets a roadmap for at least 1 million barrels per day of new low-emission bitumen pipeline capacity to Asian markets. But this move is tied to carbon capture scale-up, with both sides commiting to work with Pathways partner companies toward a tri-lateral MOU by April 2026.
Back in September, Carney also signaled any new crude pipeline to tidewater will proceed only if billions are committed to a major carbon capture system, calling the Pathways project a “necessary condition to unlock those pipelines.”
Earlier this year, the Pathways Alliance—the group behind the Pathways project—has renamed itself the Oil Sands Alliance, saying the change better reflects its role in promoting and expanding the oil sands industry.
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