Merci, Madam la Presidente. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure on hydrogen as a power source for the NWT. I participated in a useful workshop for officials recently staged regarding this topic. I'd like to know from the Minister what role hydrogen will play in a new energy strategy and action plan for the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.
Quyanainni. I'm pleased to inform the House that work to develop a new threeyear energy strategy is already underway. We recently started our public and stakeholder engagement which will inform the development of a renewed plan. Hydrogen is certainly exciting new opportunity that we are watching closely with much interest. The department recently hosted a virtual workshop with stakeholders from across the Northwest Territories and neighboring jurisdictions to be able to look at the potential of using hydrogen technologies here in the Northwest Territories. And that I thank the Member for his attendance and participation at the workshop. We will continue to look at hydrogen and what role it might play here in the territories as we develop a new energy action plan and review our 2030 energy strategy. Quyanainni.
Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for her excitement over the workshop. We heard that a regional approach is needed for the required energy transition to get us off fossil fuels. For example, trucking and shipping is a big part of the economy for northern regions while surplus hydro is found in the south.
Can the Minister tell us how the new energy action plan will recognize and embrace our regional needs here in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Quyanainni. Embracing regional needs is very important to everything we do for energy as every region and, indeed, every community has different needs and opportunities. The 2030 energy strategy is constructed in a way that we take regional needs into account in all of our decisions. This will be reflected in the threeyear action plan. As we move forward, we continue to work to ensure that we meet regional and community needs as there's never always a onesizefitsall solution for energy across our unique communities. Quyanainni.
Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. We do have a few tools that we can use to encourage the energy transition, including the yettobetapped large emitter trust accounts and their ridiculously restrictive policy. No changes have been made to the policy to access these funds despite assurances from our Minister of Finance.
Can this Minister, though, tell us what incentives and regulatory changes will be made in the new energy action plan to ensure a transition away from fossil fuels? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Quyanainni. The large emitter grant account, again, is administered by Department of Finance, and the Member pointed that out, which is great. So any questions specifically for the details on that can go to the Minister.
I can tell you, however, Infrastructure is here to support industry with advice as well as support to access matching federal and GNWT funding for greenhouse gas emission projects to best leverage the larger emitter grants account. Thank you. Quyanainni.
Thank you. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madam la Presidente. Lots of issues here were raised at the recent hydrogen workshop, including the need to pose the right research questions, ensure stakeholder engagement, do life cycle analysis of options, and looking at bridging technologies.
Can the Minister commit to developing a Northwest Territories hydrogen strategy that will examine these issues and more? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Quyanainni. While hydrogen technologies have the potential for a promising path forward for us, it should not be looked at in isolation. For this reason, we feel it's best to include hydrogen as part of our overarching energy strategy to be sure we can balance our priorities of affordability, reliability, as well as sustainability. We look at all emerging and established technologies moving forward, including hydrogen. We need to ensure that we're making the best investments and doing the best actions that lead to the best outcome for cost of energy and greenhouse gas reductions. Quyanainni.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
