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Executive Summary
2019 & 2020 Sustainable ElectricityTM Annual Report Electricity Canada
Figure 4:
Investments from Electricity Canada members on new and refurbished infrastructure for 2019 and 2020. Electricity Canada is a strong proponent for conditions that allow member investment in renewal and modernization of electricity infrastructure. These investments will help manage the expected increase in electricity demand in the coming years. Most of the capacity of Canada’s current electricity system was built in the 1970s and 1980s. There is opportunity and, increasingly, a need, to make significant investment in upgrades. Renewing the system will provide clean, safe and reliable energy while creating new jobs and clean economic growth.
Electricity Canada proposes a national infrastructure renewal plan that encourages stakeholder engagement practices such that projects receive political and public acceptance, encourages efficient and proportional reviews of applications, facilitates strong collaboration between government bodies and utilities, and acknowledges the long-term planning required for large-scale infrastructure investments (Electricity Canada, 2021). Electricity Canada also proposes a strategy be developed to electrify Canada’s northern and remote communities. Electricity Canada considers electrification of these communities necessary because there is currently a lack of access to safe and reliable power. Connection to the grid will reduce community dependency on expensive and carbon-intensive diesel fuel to meet basic needs. Electricity Canada strongly advocates for national planning that will make sure no Canadian is left behind in the renewal of our electricity system and that the system be a driver of a cleaner, more prosperous future.
Investments in New and Refurbished Infrastructure
In 2019 and 2020 the total expenditures on new and refurbished generation infrastructure were $6.12 B and $5.64 B, respectively. The total capital expenditures on new and refurbished transmission infrastructure and distribution infrastructure, were $4.14 billion and $4.02 billion respectively for the year 2019. In the unprecedented year of 2020, these investments dropped to $3.95 billion and $3.91 billion respectively, as seen in Figure 4.
2019 & 2020 Sustainable ElectricityTM Annual Report Electricity Canada
The Five Pillars Two: Infrastructure Renewal and Modernization
System Reliability and Resiliency Against Severe Weather Impacts
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the electricity sector has been through many adverse and challenging situations. Despite the uniqueness of the situation, or perhaps because of it, the system average interruption frequency was 2.34 times per year in 2019, and 2.38 times per year in 2020, excluding significant weather events. These numbers are the lowest they have ever been, highlighting the hard work from all energy sector employees during such a challenging period.
Areas of Improvement
As of the time of this writing, there are less than 28 years until 2050 and electricity demand is expected to double in that time. The Sustainable ElectricityTM Program could consider how to track progress towards doubling low- and zero-carbon electricity generation, transmission and distribution to meet expected demand.
2019 & 2020 Sustainable ElectricityTM Annual Report Electricity Canada
The Five Pillars Two: Infrastructure Renewal and Modernization
Member Testimonies/Success Stories on Infrastructure Renewal and Modernization Initiatives
AltaLink
Rebuild in Banff National Park
Planning to rebuild an aging single circuit line within the UNESCO World Heritage Site began back in 2009. The 69 kV radial transmission line, called 551L, is 57 kilometres long and runs through highly sensitive ecological regions within Banff National Park (BNP), between two of Canada’s most iconic locations. The line provides power to a host of world-class tourist amenities that service more than four million visitors per year, so preserving the public visitor experience and the natural aesthetics along the Bow Valley Parkway were important considerations in the planning of the project.
Working with Parks Canada, AltaLink’s team of subject matter experts put together a one-of-a-kind Detailed Impact Analysis (DIA) that identified every environmental constraint along the 450 structure locations on the existing right-of-way with site-specific mitigations proposed for multiple locations. Specialists in wildlife, vegetation, aquatics, and cultural resources all contributed to the development and ultimate approval of the DIA. Given the location within BNP, socio-economic impacts and mitigations, along with a visibility analysis were also included in the comprehensive DIA. As in all ecologically sensitive areas where AltaLink works, the team worked with biological and botanical experts to identify important ecosystem components. Then, using specialized equipment and best management practices, work continued through winter months to minimize the impacts on those ecosystems. Rehabilitating the right-of-way to reflect the ecological integrity of the national park was a major piece of this project and included collecting, then propagating those seeds in a nursery for up to three years before replanting the seedlings along the right-ofway. This is AltaLink’s largest wildland reclamation project to date.
While the actual work on the right-of-way was underway, a significant back up power generation system had to be put in place at the Lake Louise substation in order to maintain service through the construction period. It was the first time AltaLink had to ask the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) for approval of a temporary power source due to the size of generators required.
Construction on the rebuild was successfully completed without any unplanned outages to the Lake Louise area, and reclamation will continue while the seedlings grow.
Photo: Seedlings ready for rehabilitation work on AltaLink’s rebuild of the 551L in Banff National Park.
2019 & 2020 Sustainable ElectricityTM Annual Report Electricity Canada
The Five Pillars Two: Infrastructure Renewal and Modernization
Growth of EV Charging Stations Infrastructure
With an increasing number of electric vehicles (EV) driving around B.C., FortisBC continued to add to the province’s EV charging network, opening 17 new stations across the Southern Interior in 2020. Ensuring EV drivers have access to highway-grade charging infrastructure is important to supporting EV adoption across FortisBC electricity service area and to meet its 30BY30 target. At the end of 2020, FortisBC had a total of 29 EV charging stations across 19 sites. It plans to open 11 more stations in 2021, six of which are high-powered 100 kW stations which allow for even faster EV charging.
Adapting to the EV market, FortisBC plans to open more high-powered 100 kW charging stations across the Southern Interior. While many EVs on the road today can only charge at 50 kW, next generation EVs can utilize these higher power charging stations. These stations can charge at about twice the rated output as the 50 kW stations and will meet the growing demand of EV drivers. The EV technology continues to evolve and more EVs are coming to the market that can use these 100 kW stations. Over the years, FortisBC found opportunities to develop and strengthen the relationship with the Osoyoos Indian Band and last July achieved another significant milestone together, by opening the first publicly available EV charging stations in a First Nation community in B.C. Both sites are located on reserve land with one in Oliver and the other in Osoyoos. The stations are strategically placed to give EV drivers a place to charge while travelling through the region, reducing range anxiety and building out a charging network to encourage more British Columbians to make the switch to an EV.
Photo: The artwork on the Osoyoos and Oliver EV stations was designed by Taylor, an Osoyoos Indian Band Youth Council member, and she was recognized for her work at our event, following COVID-19 guidelines, in July.
2019 & 2020 Sustainable ElectricityTM Annual Report Electricity Canada
The Five Pillars Two: Infrastructure Renewal and Modernization
Nova Scotia Power Inc.
Damage Prediction Model and Analysis of Weather Forecasts
In September 2019, after devastating parts of the Caribbean and brushing the Eastern U.S., Hurricane Dorian made landfall near Halifax with peak gusts of 136 km/h. Impacting more than 425,000 customers, representing over 80% of Nova Scotian households and businesses, it was the most damaging storm in NS Power’s history. Before Dorian’s arrival, NS Power engaged its Event Monitoring Team to track the storm’s progress and develop detailed response scenarios beginning almost two weeks in advance. Using its Damage Prediction Model and analysis of weather forecasts, NS Power was able to understand the potential severity of the event prior to the first outage by estimating the customer and equipment impacts across the province. These advance indicators allowed for substantial pre-event coordination and preparation including securing external contractor crews, pre-staging PLTs and damage assessors, restoration time targets by area, and key communications to customers. This planning was a significant contributor to the safe and effective restoration of 95% of impacted customers within 6 days.
Heartland Generation Ltd.
Advanced the Transition of its Generating Fleet from Coal to Natural Gas
Heartland has been converting its generating fleet, consisting of 10 facilities in Alberta and B.C. providing 14% of Alberta’s generating capacity, from coal to natural gas since 2015. In 2020 they completed the conversion of one of two units at our Sheerness Generating Station, located in Hanna, Alberta, with the remaining two conversions planned for 2021. Natural gas is up to 60% cleaner than coal, and converting existing facilities not only reduces their carbon footprint, but also extends the life of the facilities and the company’s economic participation in the communities that has Heartland Generation assets. Oakville Hydro
Mobile Battery Energy Storage
Oakville Hydro is supporting Quanta Technology’s Ontario Smart Grid Fund demonstration project to design, construct and install a Mobile Battery Energy Storage System (MBESS). It is supported by the Ministry as it aims to identify and explore challenges associated with mobile distributed resources. This will be a 350 kW/300 kWh mobile battery storage equipped with a local Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), which provides autonomous controls and global optimization algorithms to determine operating constraints.
This mobile battery storage platform will have islanding capability and will integrate back to the utility grid. The battery will typically be located at a municipal substation to provide grid support and leveraging the mobility of the unit to explore additional solutions beyond grid benefits, such as providing emergency back up to critical customer facilities. This project aligns with Oakville Hydro’s objectives and assists with:
1. Developing energy insights and analysis expertise The Energy Storage System (ESS) can be utilized to analyze alternative operation methods and evaluate them with traditional methods. The mobility aspect of the ESS allows Oakville Hydro to relocate the battery as system condition changes. The flexibility of relocating the ESS provides the opportunity of exploring and understanding various grid supporting techniques (i.e. injecting reactive power, reducing impact of short-duration events).
2. Evolving the system by focusing on integrated automation and grid control and management capabilities The mobile ESS will be equipped with a Local DERMS that will be integrated with Oakville Hydro Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). This integrated approach will help to evolve Oakville Hydro’s system into a more ‘plug-and-play’ network, providing opportunity for exploring non-fixed assets in a SCADA environment.
3. Developing customer side energy solutions The mobile battery asset may be utilized to create a viable financial case beyond grid benefits for customers. It will encourage customers to collaborate with Oakville Hydro to incorporate energy solutions and participate in programs such as the Global Adjustment program.
2019 & 2020 Sustainable ElectricityTM Annual Report Electricity Canada
The Five Pillars Two: Infrastructure Renewal and Modernization
Saint John Energy
Saint John Energy became the first in the world to deploy a Tesla Megapack. The state-of-the-art 1.25 MW/2.5 MWh battery allows the company to manage peak energy in new ways, saving money and curbing carbon emissions along the way.
Saint John Energy had long eyed battery storage as a way to shave peak energy costs, to curb carbon emissions associated with energy generation needed to satisfy peak demands, and to help usher in utility-scale renewable energy solutions for the city.
The Megapack was a key piece of the smart grid they are building for customers – a $13.5 million project unique in Canada for its ambition and the technology deployed.
Developed by Saint John Energy with its partners in innovation, the smart grid leverages artificial intelligence to manage smart energy resources across the distribution system, predicts energy load and manages resources by leveraging advanced SCADA deployment in the control centre. “The utility has been developing demonstration projects to modernize their electricity grid by using distributed energy resources (DER’s), peak forecasting, and machine learning technology to flatten our peak-load capacity, lowering our emissions in the province.” – Ray Robinson, President & CEO, Saint John Energy.
The massive 51,000-pound battery, which stores enough electricity to power more than 100 homes for two hours, is the sort of technology that will assist the company in managing the intermittent nature of renewable energy generation, including its wind and solar projects.
2019 & 2020 Sustainable ElectricityTM Annual Report Electricity Canada
The Five Pillars Three: Building Relationships
The electricity sector would not be successful without the productive and reciprocal relationships with key stakeholders including customers, local communities, Indigenous peoples, employees, regulators, and suppliers. Over the past few years, we have seen the benefits of maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders. The strength of our relationships has been the key to the swift and effective response of utilities to the abrupt changes in working conditions of our employees, the massive changes in how we can interact with customers, and increased electricity consumption.
One strong and industry-leading example of how the sector seeks improvement is through our efforts with Indigenous peoples. Electricity Canada has developed an Indigenous Relations Pilot Project in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) and indicators. The purpose of the project is to assess the industry’s overall adherence to the national principles for engaging Indigenous peoples, and to establish a path for continuous improvement. The proposed indicators create a platform for members to expand and improve through assessing data reporting gaps, addressing terminology and definitions, and considering the feasibility of publicly reporting on these indicators in subsequent years. Electricity Canada understands the importance of building respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples, and the importance of obtaining affordable and clean energy for all, as described in Goal 7 of the UNSDG (UN, 2021).
Early Engagement and Consultation with Local Communities, Stakeholders, and Indigenous Peoples
Since 2017, Electricity Canada has made increasing efforts to play a role in the advancement of reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and Canada, especially in the electricity sector. “The most important advancement and significant projects in this sector are focused on building strong, respectful, and beneficial relationships with Indigenous peoples and First Nations Communities. Some of the most enduring relationships with First Nations peoples are in the electricity sector.”
– Francis Bradley, President & CEO, Electricity Canada
