Western Cape, Quebec to collaborate on opening up green economy

Front (L-R): GreenCape CEO Mike Mulcahy, Écotech Québec president and CEO Denis Leclerc. Back (L-R): Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard

The partnership aims to deepen economic and scientific linkages and will see the provinces exchange information and support each other to identify promising cleantech projects and markets.

“We have been working with Écotech Québec for eight years through GreenCape’s membership of the International Cleantech Network. This agreement solidifies our relationship and will help speed up the process of developing joint projects between the two provinces. Our networks complement each other perfectly,” says Mike Mulcahy, GreenCape’s CEO.

"We have already identified the first activities to be undertaken, which will include a number of workshops and networking between cleantech companies represented by GreenCape and Écotech Québec,” explains Denis Leclerc, president and CEO of Écotech Québec. "Yesterday, we held our first information webinar for Quebec businesses.”

Entry point to North America

Québec is the largest of Canada’s 10 provinces, and its major city is Montréal. Electricity production in Québec comes from 99.5% renewable sources. Quebec is a natural point of entry to the North American continent with access to a market of 450-million consumers, thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In 2013, Québec created a cap-and-trade system for GHG emission allowances, then linked its system with California’s, resulting in the largest cross-border carbon market in North America.

In 2010, the Western Cape’s provincial government started to focus on potential opportunities and challenges that private investment in renewable energy would provide. Since then, the scope has broadened to the wider green economy, and the province has attracted notable investments in the utility-scale renewable energy, small-scale embedded generation, energy efficiency, bioeconomy, waste, water and sustainable agriculture sectors.