OVER $69 MILLION TO ADVANCE INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION AND ACCELERATE CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES
With funding from the Government of Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund, ERA is committing $69 million to accelerate a broad range of technologies and solutions to strengthen industrial competitiveness and reduce environmental impacts. With 15 projects worth $334 million in total investment, ERA’s annual Industrial Transformation Challenge will support solutions that reduce emissions and advance the province’s industrial sector.
Funding will accelerate first-of-kind manufacturing upgrades, advance geothermal power generation, pilot carbon capture systems, launch Alberta’s first robotic fabrication platform, enhance grid management, convert agricultural byproducts into renewable natural gas, and more. The projects span communities across Alberta, including Airdrie, Calgary, Canmore, Coaldale, Edmonton, Exshaw, Nisku, Redcliff, Suffield, Yellowhead County, and more.
If successful, the funded projects through the 2025-26 Industrial Transformation Challenge are estimated to deliver average annual greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 295,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, and about 5.7 million tonnes cumulatively by 2050. Projects are estimated to create approximately 1310 person-years of employment and $212 million in GDP for Alberta by 2027. All the projects have the potential to be replicated at additional sites in Alberta, meaning the above environmental and economic impacts could scale significantly over the medium-to-long term.
THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS WERE SELECTED FOR FUNDING:
Total Project Value: $5,400,000 | ERA Funding: $1,850,000
Location: Calgary, AB
Using real-time weather data to safely increase transmission capacity and reduce congestion.
ASHCOR TECHNOLOGIES LTD. (a subsidiary of ATCO Ltd.)
Total Project Value: $1,250,000 | ERA Funding: $625,000
Location: Halkirk, AB
Reclaiming coal ash from retired power plants for use as a cement replacement in concrete and cement applications.
CANADIAN STRATEGIC MISSIONS CORPORATION
Total Project Value: $10,400,000 | ERA Funding: $5,000,000
Location: Edmonton, AB
Building a prototype nuclear micro-reactor to explore small-scale nuclear energy.
CENTRAL FARMS RNG LTD. (A subsidiary of Taurus Canada Renewable Natural Gas Corp.)
Total Project Value: $70,500,000 | ERA Funding: $10,000,000
Location: Coaldale, AB
Building a manure-to-renewable natural gas facility with carbon capture.
Total Project Value: $68,700,000 | ERA Funding: $10,000,000
Location: Redcliff, AB
Upgrading insulation manufacturing to reduce energy use and emissions.
Total Project Value: $3,600,000 | ERA Funding: $1,550,000
Location: Calgary, AB
Testing foam-based enhanced oil recovery that increases efficiency while storing CO2 underground.
Total Project Value: $18,900,000 | ERA Funding: $7,000,000
Location: Airdrie, AB
Deploying advanced grid management technology to improve outage management and reliability.
Total Project Value: $10,600,000 | ERA Funding: $2,750,000
Location: Clearwater County, AB
Testing closed-loop geothermal power that generates electricity without water or emissions.
Total Project Value: $2,000,000 | ERA Funding: $1,000,000
Location: Exshaw, AB
Installing advanced filtration to reduce water use and emissions in cement production.
Total Project Value: $6,200,000 | ERA Funding: $2,900,000
Location: Canmore, AB
Using robotics and AI to manufacture construction components with less waste.
Total Project Value: $7,700,000 | ERA Funding: $2,800,000
Location: Edmonton, AB
Creating a livestock feed additive to reduce methane emissions.
Total Project Value: $1,250,000 | ERA Funding: $625,000
Location: Suffield, AB
Improving CO2 pipeline safety by preventing cracking in carbon capture infrastructure.
Total Project Value: $87,000,000 | ERA Funding: $12,000,000
Location: Yellowhead County, AB
Installing advanced carbon capture equipment on natural gas compressor engines at the Banshee Gas Plant to reduce emissions and test scalability.
Total Project Value: $39,000,000 | ERA Funding: $10,000,000
Location: Brazeau Dam, AB
Pairing hydroelectric power with battery storage to improve grid flexibility and reduce emissions.
Total Project Value: $2,800,000 | ERA Funding: $750,000
Location: Leduc County, AB
Developing soil remediation technology to clean up abandoned oil and gas sites.
APPROVAL PROCESS
Projects were selected through ERA’s competitive review process. A team of experts in science, engineering, business development, commercialization, financing, and greenhouse gas quantification conducted an independent, rigorous, transparent review overseen by a Fairness Monitor. ERA’s Board of Directors made the final funding decision based on these experts’ recommendations.
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
All ERA funding recipients are required to produce a final outcomes report that is shared publicly for the broader benefit of Alberta. Funding recipients will be required to report on project outcomes, achievements, and lessons learned, including GHG reductions, job creation, and other environmental, economic, and social benefits.
STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT
The Call was open to projects involving technologies at the field test/pilot, commercial demonstration, or first-of-kind commercial deployment stage of development, i.e., targeting a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range of approximately TRL 7-9+.
- Field Test/Pilot: The technology or innovation is ready to be field-tested in an operational environment. Projects in this category include scale-up of prototypes to representative pilot scale and subsequent in-field testing of pilot units.
- Commercial Demonstration: The technology or innovation is approaching the final commercial product, and representative systems have been built. Projects in this category include demonstrating near- or fully-commercial-scale systems in an operational environment.
- First-of-Kind Commercial Deployment: The technology is ready for first-of-kind commercial deployment. Projects in this category will involve the design, construction, and operation of the technology in its final commercial form, intending to operate the technology for its full commercial life.
ABOUT THE CALL
The Industrial Transformation Challenge is an annual funding competition designed to strengthen the economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability of Alberta’s industrial and natural resource sectors. New for 2025, the challenge invited projects and technologies with environmental benefits beyond emissions reduction, including improved water management, soil remediation, reduced land use or disturbance, and reductions in air pollutants.
Innovators, technology developers, commercial and industrial building owners, municipalities, Indigenous communities, associations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), research and development organizations, universities, not-for-profit organizations, and others were invited to apply.
Applicants were specifically encouraged to partner with Alberta’s post-secondary and research institutions, Indigenous communities, co-operative organizations, and municipalities where they can.
Click the links below for more details:
- Call for Expressions of Interest Guidelines
- Eligible Expense and Cost Instructions
- Privacy, Confidentiality, Data, and Security Policy
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Expression of Interest Template
Successful applicants were eligible for up to $10 million per project, with a minimum funding request of $500,000.
ABOUT EMISSIONS REDUCTION ALBERTA (ERA):
Since 2009, Emissions Reduction Alberta has invested $1.1 billion from the TIER fund into 351 projects valued at more than $11.1 billion. These projects were estimated to deliver cumulative emissions reductions of more than 28 million tonnes by 2030 and 85 million tonnes by 2050.
ABOUT TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION REGULATION
The Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Regulation is at the core of emissions management in Alberta. The TIER system implements Alberta’s industrial carbon pricing and emissions trading system. TIER helps industrial facilities find innovative ways to reduce emissions and invest in clean technology to stay competitive and save money.