EDMONTON — Alberta officials are introducing a new program to encourage international development in long-term projects.
The Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program (APIP) aims to attract billions in petrochemical project investments from the natural gas sector. The province aims to compete with producers in Asia, the Middle East, and those in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States. The province said many of these jurisdictions have similar incentives programs.
According to Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association, there is an opportunity to grow Alberta’s petrochemical sector by more than $30 billion by 2030, resulting in more than 90,000 direct and indirect jobs over the construction and operations of new facilities, and more than $10 billion in revenue for the province from corporate and personal income taxes.
In addition to natural gas, the program will also target investment in hydrogen-producing facilities, fertilizer facilities or expansions to existing operations.
Some of the program incentives include covering 12 per cent of eligible capital costs once a project is complete and employing Albertans. Prior to the grant, companies will need to show their project meets the program requirements by detailing the scope and expected cost of the project. The application window for small projects (between $50 million and $150 million in capital costs) will be open for five years. Applications for larger projects will be open for 10 years.
To be eligible, a project must include a minimum $50 million in capital investment and consume natural gas, natural gas liquids or petrochemical intermediaries. It must also create permanent local jobs.
There is no cap to the program, but the government will report on expected costs each fiscal year, based on applications received and projects approved.
“We have heard directly from companies that they have been looking at Alberta for greater chemistry investments, but that we are also competing with the best locations around the world,” said Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta, in a press release. “The Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program helps to provide the necessary incentives to grow Alberta’s burgeoning petrochemical sector, which in turn will provide thousands of good jobs and sustainable economic growth while continuing to diversify our resource and energy sectors. I’m particularly excited that this program will incentivize hydrogen and fertilizer production. These are key growth and diversification opportunities for our province in a lower-carbon future.”
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed