A $4 million investment from the Government of Canada will support efforts by AlumaPower Corporation to commercialize aluminum-fueled generator systems.
CEO Rob Alexander said their technology uses recycled aluminum disks to create clean power, intending to eliminate the need for diesel generators.
During a media conference on Friday, Sarnia–Lambton–Bkejwanong MP Marilyn Gladu announced the funding through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario's (FedDev Ontario) Regional Defence Investment Initiative to support AlumaPower's $8 million project.
Alexander said the two markets they're going after are telecommunications, to provide back up power for cellphone towers, and military. Without divulging too many details, he said their technology would power life-saving equipment on the frontline troops -- something they've been working on for four years.
"The reason why that's so important is, unlike a diesel generator, diesel generators really [burn hot] and that's really easy for the enemy to see it and so as a result, they don't have power at the frontline," Alexander said.
He described the funding as being really important, as they're "in a race" with competitors to market their technology.
"Our competition is outside of Canada, so it's kind of a global race to get this type of technology and build support from the customer base, so they want to use our technology versus others," he said.
AlumaPower, which began operating in 2017, currently employs 55 people. Alexander said they hope to increase the size of the company over the next three years by at least three times, maybe four.
On behalf of Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the FedDev Ontario Evan Solomon, Gladu also announced an investment of nearly $900,000 through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative to support Promart Industrial Products Ltd.
"For me, this is what the public investment should do... help people take the next step, turn a promising technology into a product, turn a plan for a shop floor into a new capacity, and give Canadian businesses a stronger chance to succeed," Gladu said.
Gladu said the funding for Promart assists in a nearly $2 million undertaking to modernize operations and strengthen manufacturing capabilities to mitigate tariff impacts.
Promart Vice President of Operations Marc Parizeau said the investment is about where they want to be in the next five to 20 years.
"Over the last few years, last year specifically, we've been very deliberate about where we want this company to go. We want to compete for more Canadian nuclear work, more energy projects, more data centre construction, and major infrastructure," Parizeau said. "We want to do that at home."
Promart has been in Sarnia since 1985.
