Alberta Power News Round Up – August 29th, 2017
- Samantha Hoffman, P.Eng.
- Sep 20, 2017
- 3 min read
Alberta News
Banff Installs Largest Solar Installation in the Bow Valley
The town of Banff installed solar panels on the roof of their community centre. The project cost just under 489 thousand dollars to install 984 panels. This installation will save 15 thousand a year.
It doesn’t seem like solar power’s financials make it a worthwhile investment from a purely financial perspective at this time. However, PV Magazine posted a great interview with Varun Sivaram on what is needed to make solar power a viable generation source in the long term.
Some of the challenges include:
Current technologies are becoming more entrenched and may not be the most effective long term solutions. However, because their costs are declining it is becoming harder for new solar technologies to break in.
The fact that solar power is available at the same time during the day so it competes with itself in the power market driving prices down at the time that it is available.
It is challenging for investors to assess the profitability of a solar project and it would be game changing if a plot of land could be assessed for solar potential the same way that oil and gas investors can assess a well for profitability.
He also sees a new for more storage technologies and systems which encourage power consumption when solar output is high are required to make solar profitable long term.
The Effects of the Eclipse Were Unremarkable
The eclipse did not appear to have any major effect on the North American grid. Black and Veatch released a photo showing photo voltaic output over time on the day of the eclipse. The effects of the eclipse on output appeared to be similar to that of a cloud passing over the sky.
There were, however, some great photos taken of the eclipse.
Energy East Pipeline Review Will Include Upstream and Downstream GHG Emissions
There is some controversy over the National Energy Board’s decision to include both upstream and downsteam emissions in their review.
New Opinion Pieces on the PPA Terminations and the Alberta Carbon Tax
Chris Varcoe wrote a piece in the Calgary Herald arguing that the Balancing Pool should begin to terminate PPAs. He states that internal counsel supporting termination.
Joel French also wrote piece in the paper supporting the government’s carbon tax initiative.
Canadian and World News
Toyota and Mazda to Invest 1.6 Billion into a New Electric Vehicle Plant
The two companies will work together to develop the vehicles and their capabilities will include automated driving.
Electric vehicles are quickly becoming more and more entrenched in North America.
Siemens Completed a Study Testing Full Renewable Integration in a Community in Germany
The study looked at Wildpoldsried in the Allgäu region of southern Germany which produces about twice as much electricity from renewable sources as it consumes.
Through the use of a battery storage system, and advanced communications and measurement systems, the community maintained a consistent supply of power to users through fluctuating demand and supply.
However, it is still necessary to find a way to supply VAR support in order to maintain voltage stability. The next phase of the project will study how this can be achieved. Some supply sources that could provide reactive power include: battery storage devices, combined heat and power plants, biogas units, and diesel generators.
Saudi Arabia is Expected to Exceed Its Renewables Target
Saudi Arabia has read the writing on the wall and is acting on it. Their goal is to supply 9.3GW of renewable power to their grid through an investment of over 30 billion.
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