An Interview with Jay Sutton of Innergex Renewable Energy

UBC Sustaingineering is embarking on a new venture of creating educational blog posts based on interviews with various companies that have a focus on sustainability. Our goal of this initiative is to help showcase the vast career opportunities there are for engineers within the sustainability space.

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To kick things off, I recently spoke with Jay Sutton of Innergex Renewable Energy to discuss their work. 

This blog post will mostly consist of a Q&A conversation with Jay, but before we begin, here is a brief overview of the work Innergex does.

Innergex was founded in Quebec in 1990 and is now a global corporation with operations in Canada, the United States, France, and Chile. The company essentially generates renewable energy that is used for electricity, and they develop and maintain hydroelectric facilities, wind farms, and solar farms – they are helping facilitate the transition to a carbon-free economy.

Innergex manages a large portfolio of assets currently consisting of interests in 75 operating facilities with a net installed capacity of 2,742 MW (gross 3,694 MW), including 37 hydroelectric facilities, 32 wind farms, and six solar farms. They also hold interests in 10 projects under development and several prospective projects at different stages of development. Respecting the environment and balancing the best interests of the host communities, our partners, and our investors are at the heart of our development strategy.

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So, without further ado, read on for a Q&A with Jay Sutton, VP of North American Operations:

“What is your role within the company?”

“I am the vice-president for North American operations, where the majority of our projects are based. The role entails a few different components, including: compliance (ensuring that all current or prospective projects generate energy that’s reliable), procurement (consisting of creating contracts for equipment and construction for projects), as well as construction overseeing, attending and contributing to design reviews, and troubleshooting/iterating projects.”

“Are there any new projects or technology that sound promising for the future?”

“Actually, we are in the process of building storage batteries that would make energy sequestration much more efficient. An exciting frontier that has a lot of potential is generating hydrogen. Our building in Hawaii has solar panels (with batteries that are charged by the energy) – if hydrogen generators were put on the plant, when extra power was generated by the panels it could be redirected to generate hydrogen. This has a lot of implications, as hydrogen fuel cells are incredibly efficient, not to mention renewable. If the power is already being generated by another renewable resource, sustainability is maximized. The hydrogen generation could lead to an alternative fuel source for transportation. We can also inject it into natural gas to make it cleaner. An advantage of hydrogen is that you don’t have to generate right next to a transmission line – it can be stored in trucks.”

“Are there many other companies that are using the same technology as Innergex?”

“There are quite a few companies that have caught on to generating renewable energy – however, I would say that most companies take a “half-half” approach, producing non-renewable energy as well. Another renewable energy company is Boralex, also founded in Quebec, which specializes in wind, solar, thermal, and hydroelectric energy.”

“What role does technological innovation play in your company?”

“We are always looking for next upcoming technology, as it contributes to our mission of having a zero carbon emission future. Our projects have grown more diverse over the years – for example, our solar plant in Chile generates energy used to create hot water (thermal solar), and as I mentioned earlier, we are using solar plants to charge batteries, which has been a great way to reduce emissions.”

“Lastly, I was wondering which renewable energy types are best suited to British Columbia’s climate/which does Innergex use?”

“Hydroelectric dams are obviously efficient, and as British Columbia has access to clean, potable water, it makes sense why these dams are popular, though their construction has negative environmental impacts. Wind farms are also fairly common, especially in the Kootenays region; however, the Prairie provinces are huge for wind farms, as there is a lot of open space. Solar panels aren’t the most reliable here for obvious reasons!”

Maiya Callister, Sustaingineering