Alberta
On Friday, Alberta’s energy minister hailed their largest solar project. On Sunday, it was producing 10.9% at noon
This was the opening splash for a video clip posted by the Alberta energy minister on social media. Two days later, its power output at noon was barely 11 per cent. YouTube/Canadian Energy Centre
From PipelineOnline.ca
Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
And wind was doing even worse
Even though Alberta’s build-out of 38 wind farms and 36 solar farms have resulted in an enormous growth of nameplate power generating capacity, the reality was far from the advertised on Sunday, according to data from the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO).
Despite the noon hour being defined as the sun being at its highest point in the sky, Alberta’s grid-scale solar facilities were having a tough day on Oct. 22. At 11:53 a.m., solar was producing 152 megawatts out of an installed base of 1,292 megawatts. That was 11.8 per cent of capacity. On a good day, that number is closer to 1,000 megawatts around noon.
Power generation in Alberta at 11:53 a.m. on Oct. 22. All numbers are in megawatts, MC is maximum capacity, and TNG is total net to grid. Alberta Electric System Operator
It wasn’t hard to figure out why solar hand tanked. A belt of heavy clouds, visible from Environment and Climate Change Canada satellite imagery, blanketed the principle solar power production region of southern Alberta.
Heavy clouds covered southern Alberta at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Environment and Climate Change Canada
Travers, the largest solar facility in Canada with a rated capacity of 465 megawatts and having cost $700 million, was producing 51 megawatts a few minutes before noon. That was 10.9 per cent. Ironically, Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean had posted on LinkedIn on Oct. 20, “Did you know Alberta is home to Canada’s largest solar farm? Once we set clear rules around land use, reclamation and transmission, we’ll get back to work leading Canada and the world on renewable electricity. I’m proud of our energy workers. Check out this incredible clip 👇”
That 22 second video clip was originally posted by the Canadian Energy Centre, the Alberta government’s “war room,” whose mission is to set the record straight, as it were. “The Canadian Energy Centre’s mandate is to promote Canada as the supplier of choice for the world’s growing demand for responsibly produced energy,” says the Centre’s mandate.
Wind peters out
And wind power production was having an even worse day, with wind power plummeting as the morning turned into afternoon. By that time, wind was generating just 67 megawatts out of an installed based of 3,853 megawatts. That’s just 1.7 per cent of nameplate capacity.
So at that moment, combined wind and solar were producing 219 megawatts out of a nameplate capacity of 5,145, or 4.3 per cent of capacity.
Alberta’s final remaining coal-fired power facility was producing 802 of 820 megawatts of nameplate capacity, or 97.8 per cent. And its power output was 3.7 times the total output of all grid-scale wind and solar across Alberta, from 36 solar farms and 38 wind facilities, composed of hundreds of turbines and costing billions of dollars. As noted above, Travers, alone, cost $700 million and covers 3,330 acres with 1.3 million solar panels.
That last remaining coal plant, the Genesee Power Station, will soon be converted to natural gas, meaning an end to coal-fired power generation in Alberta – a province whose coal reserves run from Edmonton southwest to the BC and US borders.
The wind situation stayed much the same throughout the afternoon, and by 4:18, solar had dropped to 69 megawatts and wind was just 83 megawatts.
Wind generation in Alberta at 11:53 a.m. on Oct. 22. Twenty-four of 38 wind farms were producing exactly zero power at that moment. All numbers are in megawatts, MC is maximum capacity, and TNG is total net to grid. Alberta Electric System Operator
And near the supper hour, X bot account @ReliableAB noted AESO data showing wind was producing 86 megawatts and solar was producing 28 megawatts. At that moment, fossil fuels, principally natural gas, accounted 94.3 per cent of Alberta’s electricity. Alberta was getting 345 megawatts of power from imports, and batteries were contributing zero megawatts.
At this moment 94.3% of Alberta's electricity is being produced by fossil fuels. Wind is at 2.2% of capacity and producing 0.9% of total generation, while solar is at 2.2% of capacity and producing 0.29% of total generation. At the same time we are importing 345 MW or 3% pic.twitter.com/3gCrbqKvaI
— Reliable AB Energy (@ReliableAB) October 22, 2023
That 94.3 per cent is significant, because the federal government’s clean electricity regulations will require “unabated” fossil fuel power generation to shut down by 2035, with the exception that unabated natural gas generation could be used for up to 450 hours per year, per generator. As Premier Danielle Smith has pointed out, those hours would have been used up by the end of January in the calendar year of 2023, meaning by this time of year, Alberta’s grid, if those regulations were followed to the letter, would effectively be in almost total blackout. And to compound the situation, not only does the federal government expect provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan to replace all that power generation in 11 years, two months and nine days, but also be on the path of increasing total power generation by a factor of 2.5x in 26 years, two months and nine days.
Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Helping builders by putting an end to housing delays
Alberta’s new Stop Housing Delays online portal will allow developers, municipalities and other housing partners to report red tape and unnecessary home-building delays.
Alberta’s government is focused on ensuring Albertans have access to the housing they need, and that means working to streamline processes, cut red tape and reduce delays that are slowing housing construction down. As part of this work, government has launched a new online portal to help in these efforts.
The Stop Housing Delays online portal is now available for developers and municipal authorities to help identify areas that are preventing fast and efficient residential construction. This portal will help government identify and address barriers to building homes across the province.
“The Stop Housing Delays portal will allow Alberta’s government to hear directly from developers, municipalities and other partners on where delays are happening in the construction process. This will help identify and remove barriers, ultimately getting homes built faster and continuing Alberta’s record home-building pace.”
“Alberta’s government will continue to work with municipalities and find solutions to speed up the home-building process. The Stop Housing Delays portal will give us another tool to inform those discussions and identify areas where we can improve the pace of home building.”
Once developers, municipalities or industry partners have submitted their issue using the online form, government will collect and assess the information provided. Alberta’s government will be taking a collaborative, cross-ministry approach to ensure the appropriate departments are working together to find solutions where possible. Solutions may range from minor changes to policy reform.
Alberta’s government continues to support builders and encourage new residential housing construction by reducing red tape, incentivizing housing construction and supporting innovative strategies to build homes faster than ever.
“This webpage is an excellent opportunity to gather knowledge and further eliminate red tape. Government has been persistent in our approach of cutting red tape and removing roadblocks, and this will help to speed up residential construction. I look forward to hearing from developers and our other partners on how we can help get projects moving and Albertans in homes.”
Alberta continues to see strong housing starts and increases while other provinces across Canada are seeing a reduction in housing starts. The first half of 2024 saw 9,903 apartment unit starts in the province. This marks the highest amount in any half year in Alberta’s history, breaking the previous record of 9,750 set in 1977. Albertans will benefit from 33,577 new housing starts from January through September 2024, up 35 per cent from the same period last year. Alberta’s government remains focused on working with industry and non-profit partners to ensure that the province’s growing population has access to the housing it needs.
“This portal is a valuable tool for industry to highlight gaps, barriers and delays that may need to be prioritized and addressed by either local or provincial governments. Real solutions can only emerge through transparency, open communication and collaboration. This is an important step toward identifying the unique challenges each region and municipality faces in delivering attainable housing.”
Quick Facts
- Housing starts for January – September 2024 compared with January – September 2023
- Provincewide: 33,577 compared with 24,904 (up 35 per cent)
- Edmonton: 13,359 compared with 9,099 (up 47 per cent)
- Calgary: 17,414 compared with 14,141 (up 23 per cent)
- Lethbridge: 599 compared with 148 (up 305 per cent)
- Red Deer: 314 compared with 146 (up 115 per cent)
- Data shows Alberta had 10,699 purpose-built rentals, making up 32 per cent of all housing starts.
- Since 2019, Alberta’s government has invested almost $850 million to build more than 5,100 units and close to 900 shelter spaces. This includes projects we have committed to, that are in progress and that are complete.
- Together with its partners, Alberta’s government is supporting $9 billion in investments into affordable housing to support 25,000 additional low-income households by 2031.
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(Left to right: Stéphane Germain, president of GHGSat; John Adams, president and CEO, NGIF Capital and NGIF Accelerator and managing partner of Cleantech Ventures; Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas; Scott Volk, director of emissions and innovation, Tourmaline Oil; Justin Riemer, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta)
New funding will advance technologies that turn Alberta’s natural resources, such as bitumen, into materials of the future.
Alberta is Canada’s third-largest producer of manufactured goods and materials and first in clean technology innovation. At the same time, manufacturing companies around the world are looking for ways to make products like concrete, plastics, food, wood, chemicals and machinery more efficient, more durable, easier to recycle and better for the environment.
Alberta’s government is investing $40 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program to advance technologies that will turn everyday items that would otherwise be wasted or dumped in landfills into modern, low-emission products. These technologies will help create jobs, reduce emissions and help Alberta’s manufacturing industry lead the world.
“We have the resources, expertise and entrepreneurs needed to create some of the most advanced materials in the world. This funding competition will help develop new and exciting technologies that reduce emissions, create jobs, reuse waste and keep growing our economy.”
Advanced materials are increasing in global demand. They are new or significantly improved materials that provide a distinct advantage in performance when compared to conventional materials. Advanced materials have already been used to create new construction materials, improved batteries and fuel cells and lighter, stronger aircrafts, bicycles and golf clubs, among other products.
Led by Emissions Reduction Alberta, Alberta’s new funding competition will support scale-up, pilot, and demonstration and first-of-kind commercial technologies that improve the extraction, production, manufacturing, and performance of new and existing materials and products in Alberta. It is open to a wide a range of applicants including researchers, businesses, municipalities and Indigenous communities.
“Enhancing existing products and developing new materials with superior performance while embracing circular economy strategies will help deliver deeper emissions reductions, enhance supply chain resiliency and strengthen industrial competitiveness. This funding, sourced from Alberta’s TIER regulation, is critical and the possibilities are endless.”
The focus of this funding is to help create technologies that turn resources into modern, new products. This includes emerging technologies extracting high value metals like vanadium, titanium and lithium found within natural resources such as bitumen and creating novel, carbon-absorbing materials. These can then be used to improve everything from construction material and consumer electronics to aircrafts and hockey sticks.
“Emerging technology solutions, such as creating advanced carbon products from bitumen, are critical to lowering emissions and creating jobs in the province. Alberta Innovates is pleased to support this call and work closely with Emissions Reduction Alberta to realize a new future for Albertans.”
“By transforming our abundant natural resources into advanced, low-carbon materials, we are not only driving emissions reductions but also creating valuable opportunities for industry growth and export potential. The Government of Alberta’s investment through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Advanced Materials Challenge demonstrates a commitment to building a resilient economy that harnesses Alberta’s strengths in new and sustainable ways.”
Quick facts
- Applications for the Advanced Materials Challenge close on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 5 PM MST.
- Successful applicants are eligible for up to $5 million.
- Applications are open to innovators, technology developers, commercial and industrial building owners, municipalities, Indigenous communities, small and medium-sized businesses, research and development organizations, universities, and not-for-profit organizations.
- Applications are open to emerging technologies. While technology solutions can originate from anywhere globally, they must be piloted, demonstrated or deployed in Alberta.
- The TIER system uses industry dollars to help Alberta facilities find innovative ways to reduce emissions and invest in clean technology to stay competitive and save money.
- Full details on the Advanced Materials Challenge can be found on Emissions Reduction Alberta’s website.
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