A veteran energy investor with “no skin in the game” says seeing Canadian Energies set up production in Chatham-Kent would be a boon to the entire region.
Greg Aarssen, who has been in the energy field for more than four decades, said the future is in renewable energy, and production of components for such projects, as well as battery storage, is crucial.
Canadian Energies said it is seeking to establish a production campus that would produce components for battery storage, renewable energy acquisition, and data centres.
“This is probably the most exciting news I’ve heard for Chatham-Kent in my lifetime,” Aarssen said. “It’s the good news that we’ve been waiting a long time for.”
Aarssen, who now lives in Lambton County, said he’s not an investor with Canadian Energies, nor does he back any of the candidates running for office in the coming municipal election. Instead, he sits on three energy-related corporate boards and has watched the energy industry begin its shift towards renewable energy.
Canadian Energies, at the beginning of the Canadian Investment Summit in mid-September, announced its proposal to build a manufacturing campus in Chatham-Kent to create the battery energy storage systems, as well as other clean energy components. It is seeking $1.9 billion in investment to turn it from dream to reality.
The social media critics immediately pounced on the thought that this could serve as an AI data centre. The company followed up with a media release stressing that is not the case.
“There is a bit of a misunderstanding what this is. This is a mega factory. It will manufacture components for the new energy economy,” Aarssen said.
The battery component of the project is of particular interest, he added.
“Wind turbines, solar panels – these sorts of things generate clean, renewable energy. But they don’t do it on a consistent basis,” he said. “You need power when the wind’s not blowing. You have to have a way to supplement that.”
Enter the battery storage element. Such components store the generated energy to be released into the grid when it’s needed.
“It’s similar to the natural gas industry. We have storage at Dawn (Enbridge). In the winter, when you have more demand, we are able to pull that natural gas out of storage,” Aarrsen said. “You’re going to have an electricity reservoir that is going to be linked along the system.”
However in regard to data centres, Aarssen said they are going to be built elsewhere. That does not mean the components can’t be made here.
“Those data centres will require batteries and all kinds of components. They’re going to buy the batteries somewhere. Why not buy ones made in Chatham-Kent,” he said.
Why Chatham-Kent as the location for this potential plant? Aarssen said it makes sense logistically.
“You’re able to ship from here very easily. These products will have national and international demand,” he said.
For Chatham-Kent residents, if this manufacturing campus shifts from concept to fact, Aarssen said it’s good economic news all around, starting with construction jobs to build the facility.
And when it is operational, that means a new, significant addition to Chatham-Kent’s industrial tax base.
With upwards of 1,000 full-time jobs potentially involved, that employment uptick turbocharges the C-K economy, Aarssen added.
“This would be a new, major, major industry in your community paying taxes. You’d have 500 to 1,000 employees earning their income here, investing their money in homes and needs here,” he said. “This would be a tremendous boost for the overall economy. And it would cause a whole lot of spinoffs.”
While the timing – There has been a cloudy history of big announcements of potential investment into C-K announced just prior to municipal elections – is concerning, Aarssen pointed to this being focused around the Canadian Investment Summit.
“With the prime minister’s new focus on nation building, it’s a great opportunity to attract investment into Canada. The timing could not be better,” he said. “It’s on (Prime Minister Mark) Carney’s list of projects to look at. They (Canadian Energies) are shopping for money on it.”
