Alberta
Province teaming up with Calgary company for a $2 Billion dollar upgrading facility near Edmonton
From the Province of Alberta
Made-in-Alberta plan moves $2-billion investment forward
Premier Rachel Notley’s Made-in-Alberta energy strategy is taking a major step forward in diversifying the economy, creating new jobs and adding more value to our resources.
Calgary-based Value Creation Inc. (VCI) and its wholly owned subsidiary Value Chain Solutions Inc. are on track to invest $2 billion in an upgrading facility in the Alberta Industrial Heartland, just east of Edmonton, which will create more than 2,000 construction jobs and another 200 full-time positions once the facility is up and running.
This is just the first of several new projects made possible through the Made-in-Alberta strategy to do more upgrading and refining of the province’s oil and gas resources here at home.
“We’re taking the bull by the horns and fighting to get full value for our oil. Albertans have been talking about this for decades, and we’re not content to sit on the sidelines and let good jobs and investment pass Alberta by for places like Louisiana. That has happened for too long and it has got to stop. We’re making sure the next generation of Albertans have the opportunities they deserve in a stronger, more resilient, more diversified province.”
VCI’s leading-edge facility will upgrade diluted oil sands bitumen into a higher-value crude blend that can flow easier through pipelines. This provides significant cost savings to industry because it would reduce the need for diluent, while increasing pipeline capacity by up to 30 per cent, and providing access to more refineries around the world that cannot currently accept Alberta’s oil sands bitumen.
The partial upgrading technology is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 16 per cent per barrel compared to current processes used to extract bitumen.
“We here at Value Creation Inc. and Value Chain Solutions Inc. look forward to building upon Premier Rachel Notley’s vision of diversifying our energy markets and maximizing the value of the resources owned by Albertans. Our project is going to create good, long-term jobs with game-changing technology for low-cost upgrading and strong environmental performance.”
Through a letter of intent, the province has agreed to support the project through a $440-million loan guarantee, subject to reaching a final agreement. In all, Alberta is providing more than $3 billion in support for crude oil and bitumen partial upgrading and petrochemical upgrading, which turns Alberta natural gas into higher-value products like plastics.
“This government’s Made-in-Alberta upgrading program is a crucial element to ensuring these value-add investments happen in Alberta. Alberta’s Industrial Heartland is a key economic driver of the province’s economy, with potential for $30 billion in new investment by 2030. Upgrading more of our resources here at home means more jobs and more investment in our local communities, with new value chains that will help diversify our economy for generations to come.”
Construction of the Strathcona County-based project is already underway, with some foundational infrastructure in place and design work nearly completed. The plant is expected to be operational in 2022. Once completed, this would be the first commercial-scale partial upgrader in the world using this new technology, which VCI has been developing over several years.
VCI’s facility is just the first of others to be announced under Premier Notley’s Made-in-Alberta strategy, which is focused on creating jobs, adding value to our energy resources and exporting our products to new markets. This plan is at the heart of diversifying Alberta’s energy sector and making sure we get full value for the resources owned by all Albertans.
VCI project background
- The first phase of the Value Chain Solutions – Heartland Complex (VCS-H) will use 77,500 barrels-per-day (bpd) of diluted bitumen to produce a medium synthetic crude oil and an ultra low sulfur diesel, which is a cleaner-burning transportation fuel used here at home and around the world.
- Founded in 1999 and based in Calgary, Value Creation Inc. has nearly 1,200 square kilometres of oil sands land holdings in Alberta.
- The company has developed a plan to engage with Indigenous communities across the region for employment, contracting and long-term alliance opportunities.
- VCI’s technology is expected to help reduce GHG emissions by up to 16 per cent compared to current processes. This is the equivalent to cutting 620,000 tonnes of harmful emissions per year, or removing 135,000 cars from the road.
- The project is expected to generate roughly $2.5 billion in revenue to the province over the 30-year life of the project.
- Strathcona County is expected to receive about $280 million in municipal tax revenue over the life of the project.
Made-in-Alberta energy strategy
Partial upgrading of bitumen
- $1 billion in grants and loan guarantees to encourage companies to build bitumen upgrading facilities to:
- increase the value of our energy resources before shipping
- allow more volume to be shipped through pipelines
- Partial upgrading reduces the thickness of oil sands bitumen so it can flow through pipelines more easily, without having to be blended with diluent, or as much diluent, a thinning agent. Benefits include:
- higher prices for our resources
- more access to international markets
- cost savings on diluent for industry
- fewer emissions by removing high carbon content
- Partial upgrading is cheaper to do than full upgrading because it requires less processing.
- In 2016, oil sands companies in Alberta purchased $13.3 billion worth of diluent, much of it imported.
- Bitumen that goes to market without upgrading or refining has historically been sold at lower prices compared to other crude oils.
- Partial upgrading could help reduce this discount by improving the quality of the product and increasing the number of refineries capable of processing it.
Petrochemical upgrading
- Total support will now reach $2.1 billion to unlock about $20 billion in private-sector investment.
- This would help create as many as 15,500 jobs during construction of multiple petrochemical facilities across the province.
- Inter Pipeline’s Heartland Petrochemical Complex is already under construction as a result of this program:
- $3.5 billion private investment
- 2,300 construction jobs, 180 operational jobs
- The complex processes propane into plastic pellets called polypropylene, which is used around the world making kids’ toys, electronics and automotive parts.
Alberta
Alberta laying out the welcome mat for AI Data Centres
Fueling innovation through AI data centre attraction
Alberta’s government is aiming for Alberta to become North America’s destination of choice for Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centre investment.
The AI data centre attraction strategy identifies three pillars that create the foundation of Alberta’s work to position itself as a competitive player in the global AI landscape: power capacity, sustainable cooling and economic diversification. In each of these strategic areas, there are policy and regulatory levers required in addition to other steps Alberta’s government is taking to ensure Alberta is the most attractive and competitive destination for this emerging sector. The entire approach prioritizes competitive advantages, economic integration, market stability and keeping utilities reliable and affordable.
“Artificial intelligence is behind all the newest technologies we rely on to make our lives better, simpler, safer. There’s incredible opportunity around artificial intelligence and we are unafraid to dream big. This strategy will position Alberta as the place to invest and build AI data centres, further building on our reputation as a province with no limit to innovation and opportunity.”
The world’s largest AI companies are in search of opportunities to build and energize their data centres. Alberta, with its abundant natural gas supply and world-class power industry, is highly attractive to AI data centre projects. The province’s unique competitive power market opens the door to many opportunities for AI companies to partner with Alberta’s talented and experienced electricity sector. The sector has decades of experience in finding innovative solutions to meet industry’s power needs while maintaining a balance of affordability and reliability in a system that Albertans count on.
AI data centres generate a lot of heat and require cooling. The strategy encourages operators to determine the cooling technology best suited for their needs, water license availability and regional and project circumstance. Additionally, Alberta’s climate offers significant advantages for AI data centres because of the province’s cold winters, which would reduce the need for artificial cooling systems.
Alberta’s government seeks to ensure Albertans benefit from AI data centres and is committed to ensuring economic growth and shared prosperity while ensuring Alberta continues to have the lowest taxes in Canada and is competitive across North America.
“Alberta is uniquely positioned to capture the AI data center opportunity, leveraging our vast natural gas resources and pro-business environment to create thousands of high-quality jobs and attract billions in investment. This strategy is not just about building infrastructure; it’s about fostering innovation and establishing Alberta as a hub for high-tech industries, driving economic growth and supporting critical public services like healthcare and education.”
Alberta is committed to fostering innovation and ensuring technology development aligns with industry needs. The strategy was developed after extensive consultation with organizations and businesses in the AI space and market participants.
“For AI companies to build and scale in Alberta, they need access to computing power. Data centers are economic growth engines that provide the computing power AI companies need to develop and deploy their innovations. grow their companies and stimulate the local economies. Beyond its natural advantages, Alberta boasts a robust AI ecosystem anchored by world-class research and talent. Many of the algorithms the world’s data centers are running on have been pioneered by Amii researchers right here in Alberta. The opportunity for those companies to be close to the source of some of the leading AI research gives them a competitive advantage in being at the forefront of what is coming next.”
Quick facts
- Over the past several months, Technology and Innovation met with AI data centre builders and operators, power generators, natural resource sector participants, telecommunications companies and municipalities actively pursuing AI data centres.
- AI data centre market size is anticipated to more than double by 2030 to more than $820 billion. (P&S Market Research)
- Alberta Electricity System Operator (AESO) has 12 data centre projects on their project list totalling 6,455 MW of load.
- Most of the power demand on the AESO project list is from data centers.
- Currently there is about 1,000 MW of additional dispatchable generation over Alberta’s current needs. This amount is dynamic and may change due to factors such as generation retirements, outages, derates, or new additions.
Related information
Alberta
Parents in every province—not just Alberta—deserve as much school choice as possible
From the Fraser Institute
Not only does Alberta have a fully funded separate (Catholic) school system, it also provides between 60 and 70 per cent operational funding to accredited independent schools. In addition, Alberta is the only province in Canada to allow fully funded charter schools. And Alberta subsidizes homeschooling parents.
This week, the Smith government in Alberta will likely pass Bill 27, which requires schools to get signed permission from parents or guardians prior to any lessons on human sexuality, gender identity or sexual orientation.
It’s a sensible move. The government is proactively ensuring that students are in these classes because their parents want them there. Given the sensitive nature of these topics, for everyone’s sake it makes sense to ensure parental buy-in at the outset.
Unfortunately, many school trustees don’t agree. A recent resolution passed by the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) calls on the Smith government to maintain the status quo where parents are assumed to have opted in to these lessons unless they contact the school and opt their children out. Apparently, the ASBA thinks parents can’t be trusted to make the right decisions for their children on this issue.
This ASBA resolution is, in fact, a good example of the reflexive opposition by government school trustees to parental rights. They don’t want parents to take control of their children’s education, especially in sensitive areas. Fortunately, the Alberta government rebuffed ASBA’s demands and this attempt to abolish Bill 27 will likely fall on deaf ears.
However, there’s an even better safeguard available to Alberta parents—school choice. Out of all Canadian provinces, Alberta offers the most school choice. Not only does Alberta have a fully funded separate (Catholic) school system, it also provides between 60 and 70 per cent operational funding to accredited independent schools. In addition, Alberta is the only province in Canada to allow fully funded charter schools. And Alberta subsidizes homeschooling parents. Simply put, parents who are dissatisfied with the government school system have plenty of options—more than parents in any other province. This means Alberta parents can vote with their feet.
Things are quite different in other parts of the country. For example, Ontario and the four Atlantic provinces do not allow any provincial funding to follow students to independent schools. In other words, parents in these provinces who choose an independent school must pay the full cost themselves—while still paying taxes that fund government schools. And no province other than Alberta allows charter schools.
This is why it’s important to give parents as much school choice as possible. Given the tendency of government school boards to remove choices from parents, it’s important that all parents, including those with limited means, have other options available for their children.
Imagine if the owners of a large grocery store tried to impose their dietary preferences by removing all meat products and telling customers that the only way they could purchase meat is to make a special order. What would happen in that scenario? It depends on what other options are available. If this was the only grocery store in the community, customers would have no choice but to comply. However, if there were other stores, customers could simply shop elsewhere. Choice empowers people and limits the ability of one company to limit the choices of people who live in the community.
Think of government school boards as a monopolistic service provider like a grocery store. They often do everything possible to prevent parents from going anywhere else for their children’s education. Trusting them to do what’s best for parents and children is like assuming that the owners of a grocery store would always put the interests of their customers first and not their own self-interest. Monopolies are bad in the private sector and they’re bad in the education sector, too.
Clearly, it makes sense to require schools to get proactive consent from parents. This ensures maximum buy-in from parents for whatever courses their children take. It’s also important that Alberta remains a bastion of school choice. By making it easier for parents to choose from a variety of education options, Alberta puts power in the hands of parents, exactly where it belongs. Parents in other provinces should want that same power, too.
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