With global energy demands complicated by shifts towards decarbonization, one renewable energy giant CEO says there is a “scarcity of talent” that can develop the required infrastructure to meet requirements.  

Mike Crawley, CEO of Northland Power, says the assets his company develops are essential for the next 20 to 30 years.

“If you look at the demands for power globally, there’s huge amounts of power-generating assets that need to be built over the next 10 to 15 years. And that’s what we do,” he told BNN Bloomberg in an interview on Tuesday. 

Crawley, who will be moving on from his position with Northland Power this fall, says long term investors in the renewable energy sector understand how growing demands for power will be more important than short term losses in stock values amidst high interest rates. 

“If you look at the go forward — interest rates look like they’re set to come down. Supply chain restraints in the sector are resolving. Inflation is coming down. So everything that was working against the sector in the last year and a half is now turning in its favour again.”

Crawley pointed to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) as a pedometer for growing power demands. “If you look at AI and cloud computing data centres, right now they use about 1.5 per cent of the total global demand for power.”

Crawley said that, by 2030, “it’s projected to be 13 per cent.”

“All that power generation capacity has to be built out and there’s a scarcity of projects and a scarcity of talent to do that,” he said. 

“That’s what we have. That’s what we do.” 

To watch the end of Crawley’s interview with BNN Bloomberg, watch the interview above.