B.C. clean technology projects are on the receiving end of $30 million in funding from Ottawa.
General Fusion, Loop Energy and Inventys are among the West Coast firms welcoming funds for projects dealing with fusion energy, vehicle emission reduction and carbon capture technology, respectively.
The federal government announced a total of $206 million in funding for projects across Canada on Friday (March 4).
This comes on the final day of the Globe 2016 conference in downtown Vancouver, the longest-running gathering in North America focused on the green economy.
The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development allocated the funding specifically to Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a non-profit created by the federal government.
The SDTC, meanwhile, divided the $206 million between 36 projects across the country.
Seven of those projects are based in B.C.:
· General Fusion, $12.8 million
· Loop Energy, $7.5 million
· Inventys, $3.1 million
· Teck Resource (TSX:TCK.B), $2.6 million
· Nano One Materials, $2.1 million
· Syscor Controls, $1.6 million
· Ronin8 Technologies, $300,000
Last year, B.C. firms received $27 million in SDTC funding.
“Clean energy has had its ups and downs,” General Fusion CEO Nathan Gilliland told Business In Vancouver in late February.
“That energy has returned the last couple years with (a) more interest from the governmental level, (b) additional investor support and (c) progress in the industry.”
In the lead-up to Globe, CEOs from 50 B.C. cleantech firms implored Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an open letter to work with the industry to create a national clean strategy by June 30.
The CEOs of General Fusion and Inventys were among those who signed the open letter, which also called for continued investment in the SDTC fund.
Speaking at the Globe 2016 conference Wednesday, Trudeau said he would double investment in clean energy over five years.
“We must also continue to generate wealth from our abundant natural resources to fund this transition to this low-carbon economy,” he said. “The choice between pipelines and wind turbines is a false one. We need both to reach our goal.”
