Alberta Power News Round Up - November 9th, 2017
- Samantha Hoffman, P.Eng.
- Nov 10, 2017
- 4 min read
Alberta News
Jasper Citizens Push Back Against ATCO's New Transmission Line
Locals in Jasper are pushing back against new transmission lines that would run through the park. Residents have said that as international tourist destination, the new line would have a negative impact on the park and that a greener solution should be found to feed the load.
Single Line of the Hinton/Edson Planning Areas from the AESO's 2015 Long Term Plan
At present, Jasper is an isolated load (microgrid) with only a distribution system and local generators feeding the load (fed by "967 Palisades Power Plant, a natural gas generating station with diesel backup generators, and the 782 Astoria Generating Station"). These units are aging and reaching end of life, based on reports by ATCO, it would be more cost effective to build lines to supply power from the Alberta grid than perform maintenance on the plants.
The new connection will include approximately 45 km of 69 kV transmission line connected to ATCO's 104S Watson Creek substation.
The project was applied for in December 2016 and is currently being reviewed by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC).
More information on the project can be found on ATCO's project site.
AUC Reaffirms Payment to Distributed Generation
The AUC has ruled in favour of EQUS in a recent hearing on whether EQUS should be paid for the benefit that its distributed generation provides on its distribution system--effectively transferring money from customers for the benefit that they are recieving.
The reasoning is that by providing distributed generation (generation connected to the distribution system), the transmission system is not utilized providing cost savings. And since the distributed generator is providing the benefit, it should receive the reward and not the customer.
Enertech and ENMAX Announce a Partnership
Enertech and ENMAX have announced that they will be partnering to "explore new commercialization strategies for technologies within ENMAX [...] through EnerTech’s global network investment opportunities in the power technology sector."
The announcement does not state specifics, but it will be interesting to see what results from the partnership.
AESO Announces New Projects and Parts of the Fort MacMurray NID Cancelled
Several new projects are moving through approval process with the AUC.
The AESO has applied for voltage support to be installed at 730S Rycroft substation located 70 km north of Grande Prarie. This is being constructed to maintain system voltages within the required limits.
Fortis has also applied for additional infrastructure to support additional load at 207S Pinedale substation close to Edson Alberta.
The AESO has changed the scope of the Fort MacMurray NID and submitted it to the AUC for approval. The NID was originally filed in 2011 but, following new market conditions, likely requires updates. The project "includes developing a 240kV looped system [...] to serve future oilsands extraction operations and related industry."
Suncor is applying to the AUC for a new circuit breaker and 240 kV transmission line for their Forty Mile Wind Power Project which is proposed to be a 400 MW wind farm made up of 175 turbines.
EPCOR has applied to the AESO to maintain reliability in Edmonton.The new project includes a new 240 kV substation: Riverview and 240/35 kV transformers.
Finally, the AESO has released a report on micro generation in the province.
Canadian and World News
The British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) Does Not See a Need for New Generation in BC
The BCUC has released a final report on the Dam C project calling BC Hydro’s load forecasts “excessively optimistic.” and stating that major investment in new generation is unwarranted because BC has all of the generation capacity that it needs for the next twenty years.
BC sells power to the US and Alberta. This could be scaled back to provide additional generation for the province.
The report also stated that investments in wind and geothermal projects would be just as cost effective and unlike major hydro projects, these types of generation can be deployed in stages.
EPRI on Future Generation Scenarios and Solar Flares
EPRI has release a report detailing possible future generation scenarios. Due to economics and the low price of natural gas (which has gone down in past years because of new extraction methods), it is not expecting that the world will completely move away from natural gas.
Coal power is expected to continue to decline.
EPRI also released a report on the September solar flares and coronal mass ejections events. The events were rated as kp-8 (where kp-9 is the highest rating), but little geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) were measured flowing in the transmission grid.
Scientist Discover New Energy Source
Scientists have discovered a new method of capturing energy though evaporation. estimating the american lakes could provide 325 GW of power.
The engine works by capturing the energy of bacteria responding to changing humidity--expanding and contracting.
The team noted that using this method could have a negative impact on water quality and it remains to be seen if this method is financially viable.
Tesla Half Way to Building the World's Largest Battery
Tesla is building the world's largest battery in Australia to help ease blackouts caused by extreme weather at an estimated cost of $32 million. The battery will hold 129-MWh.
Fun Stuff
One of the greatest threats to utility poles: wood peckers. This EPRI report estimates that 45-65 % of premature pole replacements are caused by woodpeckers.
A cool video of Seimen's 1100 kV HVDC transformer. They also posted an article on the commissioning of the 587 MVA unit which will be used to transport power in China.
A shot of linemen heading from Wyoming and Colorado to help restore power in the aftermath of hurricane Irma in Florida.
AltaLink posted a shot of their linemen doing repairs on the WATL HVDC line near Langdon.
Following outages on 16 Ave in Calgary, ENMAX found the source: a crane made contact with one of the lines. Always follow the proper limits of approach and work safely!
Seimens builds a bullet proof transformer. From what I could gather, this is to protect against citizens using the transformer for gun target practice.
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