Tax break spurs development for Seven Generations Energy

An Alberta energy company approved for a provincial capital investment tax credit expects it will create an economic ripple effect for the region.

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Seven Generations Energy is one of 18 groups approved by the province for a tax break of up to 10 per cent on new machinery, equipment and buildings.

The company received the maximum $5-million credit and is now building a new gas processing facility in the Kakwa River area.

Spokesperson Alan Boras said construction will be completed by the end of 2018, creating scores of new jobs in the northwestern Alberta region.

"We've been on a strong growth plan and we're continuing on that growth plan," Boras said.

"This is an important infrastructure piece, this processing plant, which will help us process natural gas and the liquids that we produce and send them to market across North America."

The company's Kakwa River Project is a natural gas property that covers more than 500,000 acres.

Seven Generations Energy owns three processing plants, with access to a fourth. 

Glen Nevokshonoff, chief operating officer for Seven Generations Energy, estimates the new facility will increase the company's overall processing capacity by about 50 per cent.

"We'll use leading technology to turn Alberta natural gas into a variety of world-class energy products to help grow our province's northern economy," Nevokshonoff said in a media release.

Spurring the rebound

It's the second phase of a provincial capital investment tax credit. Combined, the two rounds of tax credits are worth about $62 million.

The credits from both phases are expected to support more than 3,000 jobs as companies invest more than $1.2 billion to build or upgrade facilities.

The credits are meant to spur growth in the province, said Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous.

He announced the credit for Seven Generations Energy at the annual Growing the North conference in Grande Prairie, Alta., on Wednesday.

"This is great news for the area, them expanding further and making new capital investments," Bilous told reporters at the conference.

"We want to encourage companies to invest today because as our economy is recovering, the jobs are much needed today as well as the revenues that come from them."

The rate of per capita investment in Alberta's private sector rose to more than twice the national average during the first phase of the tax credit, Bilous said.

Seventeen other businesses from across the province are taking advantage of the second tax credit. They can claim up to $5 million each.

New projects include a facility for manufacturing and processing cannabis, a skydiving facility, a craft brewery and tap room, a biofuel facility and a glass factory.

@ZoeHTodd