Calgary has long been known as an energy city and today, is being recognized as a leader in the global energy transition. Alberta is Canada’s largest oil and natural gas producer. The province also boasts some of Canada’s best wind, solar, bioenergy and geothermal resources. The Alberta Energy Transition Study forecasts pursuing a net-zero future has the potential to create 170,000 new jobs and contribute $61 billion annually to Alberta's GDP by 2050.
Alberta Energy Transition Study
Calgary and Alberta are uniquely positioned to lead Canada’s energy transition with a strong cleantech innovation ecosystem, a history of industry collaboration and investment, and a pool of specialized talent. Learn why Calgary’s strengths and differentiators position our city as a global hub for cleantech innovation.
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The epicentre of Canada’s energy sector
Calgary is home to head offices of almost every major company throughout the energy-value chain. Key players in renewables and clean tech sector also call Calgary home.
ABUNDANT NATURAL & RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Alberta is home to roughly 3/4 of Canada’s crude oil and natural gas production, and has the 3rd largest crude oil reserves in the world. More than 35% of Alberta’s land base has a wind resource considered viable for energy production, and Calgary is Canada’s sunniest major city, with 333 days of sunshine per year.
Alberta has the third highest installed solar energy capacity in Canada and ranks third in Canada for total installed wind capacity in 2022. The largest solar farm in Canada has been developed, spanning 465 MW of power and will generate clean energy throughout its 35+ year lifetime.
Leading the global energy transition
Alberta oil and gas, renewable energy and cleantech companies are focused on decarbonization and developing world-class technology to compete on environmental performance, lead digital transformation projects and create new value-added products. Alberta has 26 proposed carbon capture hubs.
Towards A Fuel Hydrogen Economy in the Calgary Region
Calgary and Alberta are “superbly positioned” to be leaders in the hydrogen economy. Authored by The Transition Accelerator for the Calgary Region Hydrogen Task Force, this study demonstrates the Calgary region’s potential as a major hydrogen hub. Learn more about the $4.6 billion per year hydrogen market potential for Calgary in a net-zero future.
The Calgary Region Hydrogen Hub was announced in 2025, and will connect the region’s hydrogen ecosystem, enhancing collaboration between Alberta’s hydrogen producers, businesses and facilities.
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Calgary is an opportunity-rich city.
Our interactive investment map highlights the foreign direct investment (FDI) that has taken place in the Calgary area over the past 6 years.
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Cleantech
Emerging strengths in delivering innovation in oil and gas, electricity, food and agriculture, are improving the competitiveness of Alberta’s leading economic sectors and companies while exporting solutions to the world.
Cleantech could represent a $3.8 trillion economic opportunity globally by 2030 (ACTia, 2019). Calgary was ranked a top 35 cleantech ecosystem out of over 280 cities by Startup Genome (2023).
Leaders in cleantech innovation
To be competitive going forward, oil and gas producers will need to continuously strive to lower costs, improve productivity and be leaders in environmentally-responsible development. Innovation will be essential to future success. These companies are creating solutions to these challenges, right here in Calgary.
Deep Sky Alpha Project
The Deep Sky Alpha project is the world’s first cross-technology carbon removal innovation and commercialization centre, based in Alberta with a mission to accelerate the path to low cost, low energy, high integrity, and highly scalable carbon dioxide removal. The facility expected to be operational by Spring 2025, removing up to 30,000 tons of CO2 across a 10-year period.
World’s First Micro Scale Carbon Capture System
Calgary-based CleanO2 raised $2.75 million in seed funding in 2022 to expand operations and accelerate growth. CleanO2 won the 2019 JWN Energy Excellence Award and the 2019 Nature Inspiration Award from the Canadian Museum of Nature, the 2023 Bow Valley College Innovation Award and supplies customers including Lush Cosmetics, FortisBC, Pacific Northern Gas, ATCO and Union Gas.
Alberta’s Largest CleanTech Exit
In 2017, water pipeline technology and inspection company Pure Technologies achieved the largest exit in Alberta cleantech history, selling for over $500 million to New York-based Xylem Inc.
Cleantech Innovation within the Energy Sector
Avatar Innovations is a corporate venture studio helping professionals inside the oil and gas sector invent, build and market decarbonization technologies that will drive the energy innovation ecosystem. Promising concepts have evolved into startups, including CO2Brew, Ethox Energy, Duat Energy, ViVent, and Waste2H2.
EXTERNAL LINKS
- Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO)
- Alberta Ministry of Energy
- Business Renewables Centre
- Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP)
- Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA
- Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA)
- Clean Resource Innovation Network
- Creative Destruction Lab
- Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC)
Team Calgary partners
Want to learn more? Get in touch
Contact
Karim Khamisa
Business Development Manager, Energy & Environment
