Number one, we already have about 180 district heating systems in Canada. Most of them operate on gas. The Government of Canada is actually a large owner of district heating systems, mainly through the Department of National Defence. There are 27 military bases, and most of them have existing district heating systems. Even the building you're in today is heated with a district heating system that, at one point in time, was planned to be operated as a combined heat and power plant fuelled by biomass.
That is something for which we already have existing infrastructure, and these types of assets can be developed with institutional capital, with no investment by the Government of Canada. It's simply an offtake agreement. The same is also true if it's not connected to a district heating system on the power side. That's where the power purchase agreement comes in.
This is what institutional investors want to put their money into, but they have to be guaranteed that offtake. That's where the Government of Canada, along with our universities, can play a critical role, creating that market and driving a market for low-grade wood and allowing for enhanced forest management.
