Province, feds team up with Dow Chemical for $8.9B investment in Fort Saskatchewan

A massive sum of cash for a net-zero ethylene manufacturing facility north of Edmonton has been announced.

This comes just days after Premier Danielle Smith announced plans to invoke the Sovereignty Act against the feds, as a way to push back against Ottawa’s proposed deadline for a net-zero energy grid.

“Today I would say is an example of how the Federal, and Provincial, Municipal governments can work together and I’m hoping to see a lot more of that,” said Premier Danielle Smith.

In Fort Saskatchewan Wednesday, federal leaders gathered with the premier to announce Dow Chemical Canada’s decision to move ahead with the Path2Zero expansion project.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced an investment of $8.9 billion for the world’s first-ever net-zero petrochemicals facility.

She says emission reduction isn’t the only way this project will benefit the province.

“This project will support up to 8,000 great jobs during construction and up to 500 full-time jobs once the facility is up and running, with a multiplier factor many, many times over,” Freeland said.

Work on the expansion will start next year, and will triple Dow’s ethylene and polyethylene capacity by completion in 2029.

Jim Fitterling, CEO of Dow, says this investment will help the plant meet demand for more sustainable petrochemical-derived products.

“Plastics like the ones we produce at this site have long been recognized for their environmental and social advantages,” he said. “They already have a greenhouse gas footprint that is typically less than half of their alternative materials. They provide unique solutions in food and industrial packaging, infrastructure, health, and hygiene among other sectors.”

Fitterling adds that the completion of that project will help the company to reduce that footprint to zero, and upon completion, the plant will generate two million metric tonnes per year of organic growth, while de-carbonizing 20 per cent of Dow’s global ethylene capacity.

“Dow will begin construction in 2024, with phase one start-up expected in 2027 and phase two start-up in 2029,” he said. “This facility in full run rate will be one of the most cost-competitive in the world.”

The Dow CEO says the project exemplifies that industrial de-carbonization is possible and profitable.

The project is to be supported by the Investment Tax Credit for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage, and the Investment Tax Credit for Clean Hydrogen.

-With files from Adam Ziccarelli, CityNews