ESG is more than simply a business strategy at TransAlta; it is a competitive advantage. Sustainability is one of our core values; therefore, we strive to integrate climate change into governance, decision-making, risk management and our day-to-day business operations. The outcome of our climate change focus is continuous improvement on key climate-related issues and ensuring our economic value creation is balanced with a value proposition for the environment and people.

We recognize the impact of climate change on society and our business both today and into the future. Our renewable energy commitment began more than one hundred years ago when we built the first hydro assets in Alberta, which still operate today. In 2002, we acquired our first wind farm, in 2015, our first solar farm, and in 2020, our first battery storage facility. Today, we operate over 80 renewable facilities across Canada, the US and Australia.

Our climate-change-related reporting is guided by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). This framework helps inform discussion and provide context on how climate change affects our business.

The following three examples demonstrate how we have transitioned our business to manage climate change risk and opportunity, how we have demonstrated leadership through action on climate change-related issues and how we are positioned for climate resiliency.

Largest wind producer in Canada: Today, we are proud to be one of the largest producers of wind power in Canada and the largest producer of hydro power in Alberta — we have grown our nameplate renewable energy capacity from approximately 900 MW in 2000 to over 2,800 MW in 2021.

Reducing GHG emissions: Our business demonstrates climate change resiliency by reducing GHG emissions – we have a target to reduce annual CO2e emission by 75 per cent over 2015 levels by 2026. Since 2015, we have reduced our annual emissions by 19.7 million tonnes of CO2e or 61 per cent, putting us on track to achieve our 2026 target.

Decarbonization strategy: As a leader in North American renewable electricity, we are well-positioned to build renewable energy facilities and hybrid facilities to support customer decarbonization goals. Our strategy involves retiring our single coal unit by the end of 2025 and achieving a 100 per cent mix of renewables and natural gas with 70 per cent of EBITDA from renewables.