Alberta’s Industrial Heartland is Canada’s largest hydrocarbon processing center. Our unique region offers world class facilities that can produce global scale quantities, and are responsible for 43% of our national basic chemical manufacturing industry. Alberta’s Industrial Heartland is ideally located in the province of Alberta, offering attractive and extensive opportunities in multiple sectors.
Specific Investment Opportunities
- Electrical co-generation
- Phenol production for resin in composite board products
- Ethyl hexyl nitrate as phenol formaldehyde diesel cetane enhancer
- Hydrogen transfer, hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen production
- Ethanol Amines
- Spent hydrocracking catalyst recovery – nickel and vanadium
- Waste heat recovery, conversion, and utilization
- CO2 capture, aggregation, and sequestration
- Warehousing and packaging
- Natural gas and natural gas liquids fractionation
- Polypropylene/propylene
- Ethylene/polyethylene
- Fertilizer
- Electricity
- Logistics and infrastructure
- Industrial services
Within the province, over $224.3 billion in projects are planned, underway, or have recently been completed (Government of Alberta’s Inventory of Major Projects, April 2019). Of this, the chemical and petrochemical sector accounts for $4.8 billion, $15.1 billion is allotted to the oil and gas sector, and a staggering $97.5 billion in the oil sands sector.
Within Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, the diverse range of feedstock from natural gas liquids and refining by-products provide secondary and tertiary derivative manufacturing opportunities. The potential is great for those interested in accessing this feedstock to produce refined petroleum products and petrochemicals. Investors benefit from Alberta’s extensive oil sands—a secure crude oil source for both domestic and international refineries.
The region also provides easy access to global markets through its efficient transportation infrastructure. Additionally, investors benefit from strong support for research and development and a thriving business atmosphere strengthened by a recognized export and investment culture.
Investment potential also exists in the area of producing and sharing resources. Deregulated energy has reduced innovation barriers and enhanced prospects for advancements in co-generation to enable producers to share resources. Alberta’s Industrial Heartland’s industrial cluster creates ideal conditions for establishing utility islands and eco-industrial development. The region encompasses over 20 major facilities in a large area, but virtually all interconnected in one way or another. Sharing resources through business and community cooperation is leading to increased economic gains, improved environmental quality, and enhanced human resources. Tremendous opportunity exists within the region to increase and enhance the eco-industrial concept.
Investment Incentives
Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program
The Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program will enhance certainty and flexibility for investors and cut red tape to attract investment into Alberta’s petrochemicals sector. Alberta has a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on the growing global petrochemical sector and diversify the province’s economy, with our abundant natural gas reserves and a competitive, investor-friendly business environment.
Key features include:
- A 5 or 10-year program period, depending on the scope of the project, during which eligible projects must be built and operational to receive funding.
- An open and transparent approach, whereby every project submitted that meets the program’s criteria will receive funding once built and operational.
- Grants worth 12% of a project’s eligible capital costs will be issued to companies after projects are operational. Grants allow companies to account for the full value of the incentive provided when calculating their project’s return on investment.
Click HERE to download the APIP Fact Sheet or visit the Government of Alberta website to learn more
AIHA Heartland Incentive Program
The Heartland Incentive Program is a novel incentive program offered by the five member municipalities of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association (AIHA) to encourage industrial development in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland (AIH). Municipalities located in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland offer incentives to new projects or expansions within the energy value chain that locate within Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. The program provides incentives valued between 1.0 – 2.5 per cent of the project’s total capital cost, but specific incentive opportunities range depending on the municipality.
An eligible project must:
- Be physically located within Alberta’s Industrial Heartland
- Be within the energy value chain or associated infrastructure
- Be either a new construction or expansion project
- Have a capital cost greater than $50 million CAD
- Employ at least 250 construction workers or 15 permanent staff after construction concluded
- Not be transitioning development from one Alberta Industrial Heartland municipality to another
- Meet other legal and financial requirements as outlined in specific municipal bylaws
Click HERE to download the HIP Fact Sheet.
