Improving Canada’s Smart Grid Infrastructure: Is it Worth It?

As the world advances into the digital age, electricity delivery systems are harnessing the power of technologies developed in the telecommunications industry to improve the delivery of electricity to its end-users. A Smart Grid, as it is called, networks with all system stakeholders—from generators to grid operators to consumers—to ensure efficiency and better performance. Based on The Canadian Smart Grid Standards Roadmap: A strategic planning document released in October 2012, the Government of Canada’s policy for the Smart Grid centers on three objectives: 1) reliability with security, 2) adequacy, and 3) environmental performance.

To be able to meet these goals, Canada’s Smart Grid should have the capability to monitor the system  constantly to prevent unplanned power outages. In the event that unscheduled blackouts do occur, real time knowledge of the things happening in the system will facilitate faster response times. Advanced infrastructure is also required to be able to meet customer loads and ensure adequacy of the system. Finally, environmental performance can be maximized by giving customers cleaner energy that consequently reduces greenhouse gas emissions and minimizes cost.

Ontario’s Smart Grid initiatives serve as one of the best examples on the various initiatives undertaken by the province to replace aging infrastructure and ultimately replacing coal and oil as electricity sources by 2030. For example, their transmission and rural distribution company is already testing how much intermittent and distribution generation (e.g. solar power) the grid can take safely. With the help of computer technology, the company is able to signal the smart meters in people’s homes to shut off if the distribution generation threatens to overload the grid.

The ultimate goal of another power distribution company in Ontario is that of a fully-automated network grid that has the ability to heal itself. This self-healing grid as it is called is equipped with a Failure Detection, Isolation, and Recovery system or FDIR that does exactly that. In case equipment fails for whatever reason, the FDIR will pinpoint the problem, isolate it to only the area affected by the power outage, and then send out a team to conduct the necessary repairs. Because the system already determines the problem, power is restored more quickly as the distribution company won’t have to wait for someone to report the problem, dispatch a team to find out what caused the breakdown, and come back with all the necessary tools to conduct the repairs.

Of course, all these require more sophisticated equipment and an upgraded Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. It also involves the creation of faster and more secure communications equipment and networks that can accurately report problems and transmit the information securely.

Improving Canada’s Smart Grid infrastructure is going to take time and money. But if the end goals of reliability, cheaper power, and cleaner energy are going to be met then it is certainly well-worth it.

 

Clean Environment Commission Recommends Issuance of Environmental License for Bipole III

Manitoba’s Clean Environment Commission has recommended the issuance of an environmental license to Manitoba Hydro for the building of the Bipole III Transmission Project. Manitoba Hydro had submitted its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on December 2011 and the results of the public participation process on February 2012 to the Commission which was tasked by the provincial government to conduct reviews and give recommendations.

The Commission has recommended the issuance of an Environment Act licence subject to meeting certain conditions. Environmental conditions like the continued monitoring of wildlife in the area during and after project construction have to be met to ensure that the integrity of caribou, black bear, and timber wolf populations are not compromised. Specific route changes, compensation for agricultural losses, and annual public reports are also some of the other stipulated conditions.

The Commission’s recommendations and the Crown’s consultations with the Aboriginal communities will ultimately determine if the provincial government will issue the needed Class 3 licence for Bipole III. The project became contentious after the NDP government scrapped the original plan to run the line to the east route to protect a proposed UNESCO World Heritage site. The proposed route now traverses the west side of the province and is estimated to cost $3.28 billion. Provided that all the regulatory approvals are met, the Bipole III is expected to be in-service in 2017.  

The Challenges Faced by Deep Platinum Mining

The Sudbury Basin in Central Ontario, northern Quebec, and Manitoba hold Canada’s sources of  platinum group metals. Although 60 percent of the world’s platinum comes from the Merensky Reef in South Africa, Canada together with the United States, Russia, and South America are also large contributors. Platinum is rare and often  found clustered with other metals which makes extracting and processing a tedious and expensive proposition. Platinum is used mainly in vehicle catalytic converters, in fuel cells, jewelry, and other industrial applications such as computer hard disks, pacemakers, and sensors.

 

The environmental impacts and economic cost of mining the mineral are common concerns for stakeholders. The most obvious problem is the high cost of operations due to the remote locations of the mines. Most platinum mines are found in areas where the temperatures are elevated. This entails constant cooling which corresponds to large operating expenses.  The deeper into the earth platinum is mined, the hotter it is going to be, increasing consistency of cooling.

 

The oversupply of platinum in the world market is another challenge for existing players. A study by Deloitte released in 2012 finds that there is a “structural oversupply” of platinum in the years to come which will keep the metal at a modest price of $1450 to $1750 per ounce. This won’t be enough to sustain operations, eventually leading buyers to pull their investments. The recent South African mining crisis is an example of the dire effects of what such a scenario would bring.

NEB Approves Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline Fees

The National Energy Board  has granted the green light to Kinder Morgan’s toll methodology for its planned expansion of its existing 1,150-kilometer pipeline that runs from Strathcona County in Alberta to Burnaby in British Columbia. Trans Mountain’s Westridge Dock in Burnaby is the only access to the Pacific for Canada’s crude products. When the $5.4 billion twinning project is completed, it should  increase the capacity of the system to handle crude shipments to 890,000 barrels per day, three times its present capacity of only 300,000 barrels per day.

Earlier this year, Canada’s largest oil company, Suncor Energy Inc. had filed a complaint with the National Energy Board (NEB) alleging that Kinder Morgan had plans of charging overly-excessive fees to oil sand companies that were interested in using the Trans Mountain pipeline. Suncor also found that the Trans Mountain pipeline would give Kinder Morgan an average projected return of 28.3 percent over a 20-year contract period. In contrast, the Northern Gateway export pipeline, which is a similar venture, is set to give  11 percent returns to its owner Enbridge Inc. However, of the thirteen companies that have signed long-term agreements for Trans Mountain pipeline capacity, only Suncor and Total had expressed objections.

The Trans Mountain pipeline, which is expected to be completed in 2017, is set to open access to potential customers in Asia through Canada’s West Coast.  These markets are set to bring in at least $8 billion in earnings every year.  Construction is set to begin in 2016 and is slated to finish by the end of 2017. The NEB approval is a boost for Canada’s oil sands industry. 

British Columbia Approves Lillooet Hydro Project

Canada’s push for “clean energy” continues to gain ground as the province of British Columbia issued an Environmental Assessment Certificate to the Upper Lillooet Hydro Project developed by Creek Power Inc. In the coming years  Two “run-of-river” hydroelectric facilities or “HEFs” will be constructed on the Upper Lillooet River and Boulder Creek in Pemberton Valley.

From their respective water sources, HEFs will divert parts of the water to turbines that generate power. Afterwards, the same water will be returned to the river or creek where they came from. Meanwhile, transmission lines which are interconnected to the BC Hydro transmission systems deliver electricity to the consumers. This energy source is expected to power an estimated 40,000 homes when it becomes operational in August 2015.

Various studies have supported the environmental benefits of hydroelectric energy. Unlike coal and natural gas plants that emit greenhouse gases, hydroelectric energy generation is clean and emissions-free. The best advantage of this energy source is that the water  used to produce electricity is returned to its origin, clean and unchanged.

The company expects to start construction on the Boulder Creek and Upper Lillooet facilities in 2013 and on the North Creek facility in 2014.