TransCanada Power Corridor:
A National Grid Uniting Canada

Canada was shaped in the late 1890s as a nation — integrated by the “technology” of that era, the railroad. Similar to the immense impact of the railroad on Canada’s economy and capabilities in Canada’s early days, in this paper we present a transformational blueprint for Canada’s transition to a sustainable, clean energy, and a highly robust economy. The blueprint developed in this report is to help transform Canada’s energy landscape to be “fit-for-purpose” for the twenty-first century, enabling completely new sets of technological capabilities and new opportunities for high-value-add exports. Our vision is to establish “broad-based electrification” as the cornerstone of a national strategy, linked to a continent-scale ‘West–East’ power corridor. The national grid will not only serve as the backbone of Canada’s energy system but will also function as a unifying national force for the growth of new enterprises, products and services, investment and employment opportunities.

The TransCanada Power Corridor is a “national infrastructure flagship project” — fully aligned with national priorities for sovereignty, export expansion and clean energy development. Establishing a national grid, capable of integrating all the diverse resources of each of the provinces, is a commitment to enhanced energy-security goals and balancing resource development across the energy landscape that meets Canada's international climate obligations.

There is an urgency to shape a timely response to emerging geopolitical risks and threats to Canada's sovereignty. The necessity lies in establishing a national energy economy that is resilient to the threats of climate-induced shocks and to “future proofing” critical infrastructure that supports national economic growth. The global trend towards a massive increase in electrification is clear and well established. The goal of this report is to amplify and build on the existing advantage of Canada’s clean power grid. Accelerated expansion of the electricity sector with minimal dependence on the use of fossil fuels (<20 percent share in final energy consumption) is achievable in the 2050–2060 time frame. Timely investments in the transmission infrastructure for improved interconnection capability (2025-2035), rapid deployment of existing commercially proven technologies (2025-2040) and development of new transformative technologies in the 2035–2050 time frame will be necessary. Achieving a dramatic reduction in annual carbon emissions, greater than 70 percent, from the current level of 700 Mt to 200 Mt is feasible and it meets the national obligations. The focus in this report is primarily on attracting new investments in this growth sector, with minimal reliance on policy instruments such as carbon tax, cap-and-trade or government subsidies.

Figure 1: Growth and Electricity Demand