Electrification Is a Unique Opportunity in the Energy Transition
Electrification Is a Unique Opportunity in the Energy Transition
President, BMO Financial Group, Quebec
Appointed President, BMO Financial Group, Quebec, and Vice-chair of BMO Capital Markets on November 1st, 2022, Mr. Baillargeon has been with the Bank of Montreal si…
Appointed President, BMO Financial Group, Quebec, and Vice-chair of BMO Capital Markets on November 1st, 2022, Mr. Baillargeon has been with the Bank of Montreal si…
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Electrification is critical for the world’s net-zero journey and is part of a unique investment opportunity, Grégoire Baillargeon, President of BMO Financial Group, Quebec said at a Montreal event launching a research program focused on advancing electrification.
Baillargeon also announced he had joined the advisory committee for the program, Electrifying Society: Towards Decarbonized Resilient Communities, now known as Volt-Age. Resulting from a partnership between Concordia University, the University of Calgary, Toronto Metropolitan University and Dalhousie University, Volt-Age received C$123 million in funding through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund competition.
The Energy Transition’s Opportunities
The urgency of the climate challenge and the clear need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly to reach net zero are partly what make the energy transition a unique opportunity for investors.
As a critical part of the energy transition, electrification has an important role to play in moving the world along net-zero pathways. Indeed, more than half of the CO2 equivalent emissions reductions needed to arrive at net zero are related to electrification, including greening the grid, electrifying transportation, and transforming heavy industries, Baillargeon said.
The Volt-Age program will address the technical challenges of electrification and accelerate the integration of new technologies, such as smart carbon-neutral buildings, smart and secured grids, energy storage and management, and electric vehicles.
Raise Awareness and Capitalize on Opportunities
As part of an ambition to be its clients’ lead partner in the transition to a net-zero world, Baillargeon said BMO has added many capabilities to help customers raise awareness and seize on opportunities, including sustainable financing and carbon credit solutions.
In particular, the BMO Climate Institute was launched in 2021 to bridge science, policy, finance, and economics and help accelerate climate solutions. In 2022, Radicle, a leader in carbon credit advisory, carbon credit creation and carbon credit trading, joined BMO.
“We can now not only finance decarbonization projects, we can create the carbon credits that come from those projects,” Baillargeon said.
