yyctimes

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Edmonton Police Service announces regimental funeral for 2 slain officers set for March 27

    March 21, 2023

    Protest to demand renaming of Calgary’s Sir John A. Macdonald School

    March 21, 2023

    Guilbeault wants stronger links with Alberta on issues of oilsands tailings ponds

    March 21, 2023
    • Home
    • Contact Us
    Facebook Twitter
    yyctimes
    yyctimes
    Home » Varcoe: During grid alerts, natural gas powers Alberta
    yyctimes

    Varcoe: During grid alerts, natural gas powers Alberta

    yyctimesBy yyctimesDecember 22, 2022Updated:December 22, 2022No Comments8 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram Pinterest Tumblr Reddit Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Breadcrumb Path Hyperlinks

    1. Politics
    2. Vitality
    3. Columnists
    4. Enterprise

    On one other bitterly chilly December day, gasoline bears the brunt, elevating the broader query of how Alberta’s energy system will transition into the longer term.

    The Calgary District Heating Building is shown on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 in downtown Calgary at 9 Ave and Macleod Tr S.
    The Calgary District Heating Constructing is proven on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 in downtown Calgary at 9 Ave and Macleod Tr S. Jim Wells/Postmedia

    Article content material

    Renewable vitality and battery storage might sooner or later take over the world – the world of electrical energy.

    Commercial 2

    This advert has not but loaded, however your article continues under.

    Article content material

    Nevertheless, this isn’t the day.

    Calgary Herald Headline News Banner

    Signal as much as obtain every day information from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Community Inc.

    By clicking the join button, you comply with obtain the above publication from Postmedia Community Inc. You possibly can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe hyperlink on the backside of our emails or any publication. Postmedia Community Inc. | 365 Bloor Road East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

    Thanks for subscribing!

    A welcome e mail is on its manner. When you do not see it, please examine your junk folder.

    The following subject of Calgary Herald Headline Information shall be in your inbox quickly.

    We encountered an issue signing you in. Please attempt once more

    Article content material

    As an alternative, the bitter chilly gripping Alberta and far of Western Canada highlights the significance of pure gasoline in preserving houses heat and lights on.

    Wanting on the combine of what’s producing electrical energy within the province this week, one can clearly see the vital function for gasoline.

    “There’s little or no wind and solar energy is proscribed through the day and naturally none at evening. It reveals that renewable vitality creates important ranges of vitality when nature works with you, but it surely’s not dispatchable – it isn’t dependable,” Capital Energy CEO Brian Vaasjo mentioned on Wednesday.

    “In Alberta, there’s actually nothing that may take the place of pure gasoline within the brief time period, and even the medium time period.”

    The provincial energy grid has been severely examined in current days by the extended deep freeze.

    Commercial 3

    This advert has not but loaded, however your article continues under.

    Article content material

    On Monday, the province set a file for electrical energy demand at 12,187 megawatts (MW), in line with the Alberta Electrical System Operator (AESO).

    Costs attain a most of $999 per megawatt hour (MWh) A grid warning was issued by the AESO on Wednesday morning, which was lifted shortly after midday. This occurred after one of many bigger gas-fired producing items was offline for a number of hours.

    “We have already got an excellent provide, and the demand is extraordinarily excessive. It is a side of this time of 12 months,” Steven Everett, AESO’s supervisor of market evaluation, mentioned on Wednesday.

    “It is a bit of all palms on deck, when it comes to turbines supplying the system. And, sure, if there’s an interruption, issues can get harder fairly rapidly.”

    Commercial 4

    This advert has not but loaded, however your article continues under.

    Article content material

    Bone-chilling temperatures hovered round -30 C, extra individuals residing within the province, file oil sands manufacturing and elevated financial exercise all contributed to larger energy consumption.

    AESO additionally issued a grid warning at 4.47pm on Tuesday, asking individuals to preserve energy because the system is below stress.

    On the time, the grid relied closely on fossil fuels, together with gasoline and coal, for electrical energy technology.

    Shortly after 6pm on Tuesday, a provide and demand picture on AESO’s web site confirmed how integral pure gasoline technology was within the general combine.

    Web technology within the province stood at 11,322 MW, whereas practically 700 MW was imported into the province from Montana, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

    Commercial 5

    This advert has not but loaded, however your article continues under.

    Article content material

    Inside Alberta, pure gasoline was liable for supplying greater than 9,300 MW, or 82 p.c of complete web technology. Coal was second on the record of gas varieties, contributing seven p.c.

    Twin-fuel technology items, corresponding to vegetation that may change between coal and gasoline, accounted for about 4 p.c of technology, adopted by hydro.

    Given the time of evening, photo voltaic supplied no energy, nor did it come from vitality storage.

    And the wind was not blowing strongly and was producing about 100 MW, or lower than one p.c, at that second.

    By Wednesday afternoon, the combo hadn’t actually modified a lot: gasoline accounted for 78 p.c of complete web technology, with wind at 4 p.c and photo voltaic at two p.c.

    “We get our energy from gasoline and just a little little bit of coal to get us by this,” mentioned Everett.

    Commercial 6

    This advert has not but loaded, however your article continues under.

    Article content material

    “We’re seeing, by a few of these harder instances, some photo voltaic and a few wind, so it isn’t solely from fossil fuels.”

    None of that is to say that renewable vitality is not essential or will not play a a lot larger function in Alberta’s future.

    The sheer quantity of personal sector funding flowing into photo voltaic and wind tasks on this province — greater than $4.3 billion in developments introduced since 2019 — is a testomony to the enterprise case for renewables and their aggressive pricing.

    Local weather considerations and authorities insurance policies to cut back emissions are including extra momentum, together with the federal authorities’s push for a net-zero emitting electrical energy system by 2035.

    Blake Shaffer, an economist on the College of Calgary, mentioned the previous week serves as a reminder that photo voltaic and wind can present low cost uncooked vitality however little efficient load-carrying capability.

    Commercial 7

    This advert has not but loaded, however your article continues under.

    Article content material

    “Lots of people will take that away and say, ‘OK, photo voltaic and wind are nugatory.’ This isn’t the proper option to take it. This is a vital reminder that they don’t seem to be capability assets. They supply worth for vitality,” he mentioned.

    “It is a large reminder that for capability assets, that is the place Alberta has the large problem because it decarbonizes.”

    In contrast to BC and Manitoba, which have plentiful hydro assets, Alberta’s on-demand capability at present comes largely from fossil fuels.

    Binnu Jeyakumar, director of electrical energy on the Pembina Institute, mentioned this week’s occasions additionally present that extra funding shall be wanted to fulfill the rising demand for electrical energy sooner or later.

    Alberta will want a various community, which ought to embrace extra storage tasks and interconnections with different provinces, she mentioned.

    Commercial 8

    This advert has not but loaded, however your article continues under.

    Article content material

    “Each technology has its personal disadvantages and benefits,” Jeyakumar mentioned.

    “Folks at all times ask: ‘Is renewable vitality dependable?’ We’re seeing proof right here of what occurs in conventional thermal technology when you may have unplanned outages,” she mentioned of the gas-fired plant going offline.

    An Enmax manhole cover is shown in downtown Calgary on Wednesday, December 21, 2022.  A good portion of western Canada is under severe weather warnings.  Jim Wells/Postmedia
    An Enmax manhole cowl is proven in downtown Calgary on Wednesday, December 21, 2022. A great portion of western Canada is below extreme climate warnings. Jim Wells/Postmedia Jim Wells/Postmedia

    The broader query is how Alberta’s energy system will transition into the longer term.

    This might imply combining pure gasoline vegetation with carbon seize, utilization and storage (CCUS) know-how to realize web zero emissions. This may imply extra battery storage and renewable vitality.

    Capital Energy, which has pure gasoline, wind and photo voltaic amenities in Alberta, is engaged on a proposed CCUS improvement close to its Genesee Producing Station west of Edmonton.

    Vaasjo nonetheless expects to see a big quantity of gasoline for energy technology in Alberta in 2035.

    Nevertheless, the transition won’t occur in a single day.

    And on one other bitterly chilly December day, gasoline bears the brunt.

    “It is a day that folks ought to bear in mind,” mentioned Vaasjo.

    “What is going on to maintain my lights on, on days like at present . . . that is the place an increasing number of individuals notice there’s a function for pure gasoline as we transfer ahead.”

    Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

    cvarcoe@postmedia.com

    Share this text in your social community

    Commercial 1

    This advert has not but loaded, however your article continues under.

    Commentary

    Postmedia is dedicated to sustaining a vigorous however civil discussion board for dialogue and encourages all readers to share their opinions on our articles. Feedback might take as much as an hour for moderation earlier than showing on the positioning. We ask that you simply preserve your feedback related and respectful. We have enabled e mail notifications—you will now obtain an e mail if you obtain a reply to your remark, there’s an replace to a remark thread you observe, or when a person you observe feedback. Go to our Group Pointers for extra data and particulars on how you can regulate your e mail settings.

    Source link

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    yyctimes
    • Website

    Related Posts

    Protest to demand renaming of Calgary’s Sir John A. Macdonald School

    March 21, 2023

    Braid: The Liberals are striving to change Canada’s very nature

    March 21, 2023

    No jail time for fentanyl dealer with severe brain injury

    March 21, 2023

    ‘A negative development’: Banking turmoil causes oil price slide

    March 20, 2023

    UCP funding to add educational assistants, support staff

    March 20, 2023

    Pitbull poised to headline Calgary Stampede opening night

    March 20, 2023

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Don't Miss
    yyctimes

    Edmonton Police Service announces regimental funeral for 2 slain officers set for March 27

    By yyctimesMarch 21, 2023

    4 days after two cops have been shot and killed whereas responding to a home…

    Protest to demand renaming of Calgary’s Sir John A. Macdonald School

    March 21, 2023

    Guilbeault wants stronger links with Alberta on issues of oilsands tailings ponds

    March 21, 2023

    Braid: The Liberals are striving to change Canada’s very nature

    March 21, 2023
    Our Picks

    Edmonton Police Service announces regimental funeral for 2 slain officers set for March 27

    March 21, 2023

    Protest to demand renaming of Calgary’s Sir John A. Macdonald School

    March 21, 2023

    Guilbeault wants stronger links with Alberta on issues of oilsands tailings ponds

    March 21, 2023

    Braid: The Liberals are striving to change Canada’s very nature

    March 21, 2023

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from SmartMag about art & design.

    Our Picks

    Edmonton Police Service announces regimental funeral for 2 slain officers set for March 27

    March 21, 2023

    Protest to demand renaming of Calgary’s Sir John A. Macdonald School

    March 21, 2023

    Guilbeault wants stronger links with Alberta on issues of oilsands tailings ponds

    March 21, 2023
    New Comments

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.