Upgrades to Electrical Infrastructure

1
Upgrades to Electrical Infrastructure Straw Dog
Plan Presentation to CAE Energy Pathways
Workshop Series Three National Technology
Projects October 12, 2007 Richard Marceau,
UOIT Bob Griesbach, Hatch Ltd.
2
Outline of the Presentation

• Background
• Overview of Current Activities
• National Technology Projects
• Action Plan

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Recommendation from Energy Pathways Final Report
on Upgrades to Electrical Infrastructure

• There are 3 challenges related to a national
  electrical grid system
• A national grid linking most or all of the
  provinces with high voltage Transmission Lines
  capable of transmitting relatively significant
  amounts of power
• Technology to allow more effective connection of
  larger amounts of intermittent renewable-based
  generation to the local grid without compromising
  system operations
• Technology to allow more cost effective storage
  of the energy from electricity produced from
  intermittent sources and off-peak base loads

4
Objectives of the Energy Pathways Project

• To define the barriers preventing the efficient
  production, conversion, delivery and end use of
  adequate and sustainable supplies of energy that
  are both economic and environmentally acceptable.
• And then to identify technologies that can
  overcome these barriers.

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Boundaries for this Presentation

• In the pathways leading from energy resource
  exploitation to energy end uses, there are many
  points where alternatives exist for increasing
  the supply and deliverability of Economic,
  Environmentally Acceptable and Sustainable
  Sources of Electricity. These include
• Energy resource exploitation
• Conversion processes and generation of
  electricity
• Energy Storage
• Transmission
• Distribution
• End Use

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Key Opportunities - Transmission

• Add new facilities to reliably move power from
  provinces with the capability of economically
  producing large amounts of low environmental
  impact power to those that do not i.e. the
  National Grid Concept
• Expand/add grid and/or enabling facilities to
  transmit generation from renewable sources to
  major loads
• Add new facilities to connect loads reliant on
  fossil fuels (e.g. isolated communities) to
  generation with lower emission characteristics
• Make enhancements to existing systems to reduce
  transmission losses and increase flexibility

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Key Opportunities - Distribution

• Enhancements/expansions to local distribution
  grids to allow integration of more renewables
  based distributed generation
• Create smart distribution networks offering
  real time pricing, seamless net metering, load
  interruptions based on agreed criteria etc.
• Facilitate community based networks based on
  multiple types of small renewables based energy
• Make enhancements to reduce distribution losses

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Key Opportunities Energy Storage

• Store energy produced in base load facilities
  with zero or very low emissions levels (e.g.
  nuclear) to allow reduced fossil fuel use at
  times of system peak
• Store energy produced by intermittent generation
  (e.g. wind, solar, tidal) to use when load
  requires and significantly reduce the undesirable
  impacts of intermittent generation on power
  system operations

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Overview of Current Activities
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Many Activities are Currently Underway

• A wide range of stakeholders are actively
  addressing the issues
• Electric utilities, provincial, municipal and
  private
• Project developers
• Federal government through NRCan, its CANMET
  Energy Technology Center and other agencies
• Provincial government energy ministries and
  provincial planning agencies such as OPA
• Funds such as Sustainable Development Technology
  Canadas SD Tech Fund and Ontarios Community
  Power Fund
• Regulators and independent system operators
• University research
• Independent research institutes such as CERI

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Council of Premiers

• This group met in August and the result of the
  session was publication of a document titled A
  Shared Vision for Energy in Canada
• Labeling Canada an energy superpower on the
  world stage, a Seven Point Action Plan was
  developed that has many linkages with the
  recommendations of this study
• Point 4 on enhancing transmission networks calls
  for additional east-west transmission
  infrastructure
• Point 5 calls for improved timeliness and
  certainty of regulatory approval
• Point 6 calls for developing and implementing
  startegies to meet energy sector human resource
  requirements
• The Appendix provides an impressive list of
  activities going on in each province

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Transmission Enhancements for Clean Energy

• The electric utilities in each province are
  looking at enhancements to their transmission
  systems to allow greater use of renewable
  resources. Three examples from across the
  country
• The BC governments Energy Plan released in 2007
  is highly focused on clean energy and directs the
  transmission company to advance build new
  transmission to facilitate delivery and use of
  clean energy e.g. current project planning for
  287 kV line to northern BC
• The significant emphasis on grid enhancements and
  radial enabling lines included in the Ontario
  Power Authoritys IPSP to deliver renewable
  energy to load centers
• The Nova Scotia governments Renewable Energy
  Standards and the current study on integration of
  significant amounts of wind power in the
  provincial system

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More Details on OPA Plan

• Stage 1 (2010-2015) includes 7 transmission
  projects to facilitate and enable the development
  of 2,720 MW of renewable energy
• Stage 2 (2016-2019) includes 4 transmission
  projects to facilitate and enable the development
  of an additional 1,500 MW of renewable energy
• Stage 3 (2020 and beyond) includes 3 transmission
  projects to facilitate and enable an additional
  2,280 MW of renewable energy
• It is intended that enabling projects would be
  pre-built and this will require regulatory and
  policy changes on which the OPA recommends that
  work start now

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National Technology Projects
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The National Grid Concept

• The possible benefits of a national grid have
  traditionally been considered to include
• To bring power from a province with a power
  surplus or with resources that could readily be
  developed at reasonable cost to provinces short
  of supply or suitable options to increase supply
• To allow for development of larger unit sizes
  than would otherwise be the case
• To provide backup power to maintain reliability
  targets at minimum cost
• To benefit from time of day and seasonal
  diversity between when peak loads occur in
  different provinces
• Studies carried out to date have not indicated
  compelling economics for such a project

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Major Interconnections
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Electricity Generation by Province
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Peak Demand by Province
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Intra-Provincial Trade in Electricity
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Comparisons Across the Country
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Times Have Changed

• There is a realization that climate change is
  real and we must reduce GHG emissions
• Given this, generation will almost certainly, in
  one way or another, need to pay for the impact of
  its GHG emissions
• Costs for all major capital projects have
  escalated drastically
• Operating costs for thermal generating plants
  have increased and even more troublesome, skilled
  operating labor is in short supply
• With high employment rates in many provinces one
  of the original benefits of in-province
  generation is reduced
• Prices for oil and other alternative fuels may
  remain higher than once thought possible

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Distribution Sector Smart Grid

• The essence of a smart grid is digital control
  of the power delivery network providing
  capability for automated load control, automated
  distribution equipment operation and automated
  outage restoration
• This allows real time global reconfiguration of
  the distribution system and control of its
  variable equipment
• Estimated that automation at the system feeder
  level is currently only 15-20 and is less than
  75 even at the substation level
• Benefits include
• better use of distributed generation/storage
  technologies
• enhanced reliability
• better quality of supply
• reduction in distribution system redundancy
  requirements
• seasonal optimization of system losses
• better use of distributed generation/storage
  technologies
• Improved energy management at the utilization end
• real-time demand-side management

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A Vision of the Distribution System of the Future

• Fully enabling a range of distributed energy
  functions optimized at the community level
  including
• Small wind and solar power generation
• Energy storage functionality be it batteries or
  other new technologies and bore-hole thermal
  storage
• District heating and cooling capabilities
• Utility rental of solar water heating equipment
• Full suite of end user energy management
  functions
• Automated load control of larger equipment
• Smart charging of plug-in vehicles

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Energy Storage

• Two aspects serve peak loads more economically
  and better utilize intermittent energy resources
• Pumped storage is the most widespread energy
  storage system in use today, approximately 90,000
  MW around the world
• In systems with storage hydro an intermittent
  resource like wind power can in effect be stored
  in the reservoir
• Use of wind power to store energy in the form of
  hydrogen or some other energy form has been
  suggested

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Energy Storage contd

• Many energy storage devices have been invented
  and tested at some scale
• These include various types of batteries, flow
  batteries, compressed air systems, super
  capacitors, flywheels etc.
• In some cases prototypes have been in operation
  for a number of years but generally have not been
  replicated
• Commercial readiness of systems that can store
  significant amounts of power for long enough
  periods at economical costs has not been achieved
  technology development needed and then tested
  in combination with an intermittent resource such
  as wind power

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Action Plan
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Action Plan for National Grid

• Convince Federal government authorities of the
  potential benefit to Canada
• Convince the Provincial government authorities in
  each province of the potential benefit to their
  provinces
• Establish a national Federal-Provincial high
  level task force with the mandate to proceed with
  definitive studies to establish the
  costs/benefits, financing needs, business
  structure and regulatory requirements for such a
  project
• Federal government to provide suitable funding
  for this so that these steps proceed quickly

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Conclusion

• Thank you for your attention and comments
• For further information please contact
• Richard J. Marceau, Eng., M.Sc.A., Ph.D.,
  F.C.A.E.
• Provost, University of Ontario Institute of
  Technology
• 905.721.3147
• richard.marceau_at_uoit.ca
• Robert C. Griesbach, P. Eng., CMC
• Director, Business Consulting Power
• Hatch Ltd.
• 905.469.3422
• rgriesbach_at_hatchenergy.com