An east-west power grid, Canada’s elusive national dream

An east-west power grid, Canada’s elusive national dream

Constructing an east-west electricity grid in Canada is far from a novel idea. Politicians and other leaders have openly mused about the idea throughout the last decade.  Sharing power between provinces is once again on the discussion table, as B.C. Premier Christy Clark pushes the federal government to consider a national grid.

CBC

Clean-energy 1st step to green NAFTA

Canada, the United States and Mexico have signed a trilateral agreement that could mark the start of discussions on the first North American accord on climate change and clean energy.

CBC.ca

Small investors powering green revolution: CoPower

The biggest obstacle to the greening of Canada’s commercial real estate portfolio isn’t technology, infrastructure or government approvals. It’s money. Installing rooftop solar power, geo-thermal energy systems, or even swapping out thousands of inefficient lightbulbs for high-efficiency LEDs can be an expensive and daunting prospect.

Read more

Shades of green: A renewable revolution

If I told you the electricity running through the veins of our civilization was about to get a whole lot greener, would you believe me?  Renewable energy has been dismissed as an impractical alternative to fossil fuels. Our grids are not built to handle renewables, the necessary electrical storage doesn’t exist and, above all else, renewable power is just too darned expensive.

Alternatives Journal

Battery storage giving businesses a break

Battery storage is helping utilities do their jobs. And by extension, it will — in time — help energy managers. Just off the lot: a 8.75 megawatt project that captures and reuses energy created by braking subway cars along two subway lines. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) now has one of the nation’s largest customer-sited battery storage networks.

Energy Manager Today

Canadian investment in renewables fell by half last year

Canada is dropping behind its major trading partners in renewable energy investment, according to a study from a clean energy advocacy group.  Merran Smith of Clean Energy Canada suggests government-set targets and goals for wind and solar power in regional energy grids is the best way to spur that investment and keep Canada in the game.

CBC

Transalta scraps obsolete wind farm

The oldest commercial wind power facility in Canada has been shut down and faces demolition after 23 years of transforming brisk southern Alberta breezes into electricity.  TransAlta Corp. said the blades on 57 turbines at its Cowley Ridge facility near Pincher Creek have already been halted and the towers are to be toppled and recycled for scrap metal this spring.

Edmonton Journal

Nova Scotia shuts tower plant

Canadian wind turbine tower manufacturer DSME Trenton is shutting its Nova Scotia plant after failing to land enough orders to keep operations going.  The province, which poured C$56m into the joint venture with Korean-owned Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, said it will file for receivership to try to recover as much of its investment as possible.

ReNews.biz

Canadian Wind Energy Association to focus on Alberta and Saskatchewan

“BC has the potential to be a clean-energy superpower.” So said B.C. Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon in last week’s throne speech. But one organization that had hoped to play a role in realizing that goal – the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) – might have either missed that speech or simply not put much faith in it.

Business in Vancouver

Solar energy incentives in Alberta: It’s just the beginning

On February 5, 2016, the Government of Alberta announced an investment of more than $5 million into two solar energy programs aimed at growing Alberta’s renewable energy sector – the Alberta Municipal Solar Program for Alberta municipalities, and the On-Farm Solar Management Program for eligible farmers.

Mcmillan

Alberta’s shift from coal to renewables unclear

In late November, the Alberta government was receiving praise for its adoption of a climate strategy that included the implementation of a carbon tax and a commitment to phase out the use of coal for electricity generation. The government promised that as much as 30 per cent of electricity would be generated from renewable sources.

Calgary Herald

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First-time buyers dominate corporate renewable purchasing

For years, just a handful of companies — especially Google — comprised the market for large-scale, off-site renewable energy procurement. In 2015, Google reigned again, announcing more MW of green energy than any other single company: 729 MW, including the single largest deal of the year, a 225-MW agreement to buy wind power from  Invenergy, a sponsor of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center (BRC).

Green Biz

Like it or not, Toronto is a nuclear city

Toronto is a nuclear city. The power that keeps its nighttime skyline twinkling, its streetcars trundling, its bank machines churning, its smartphones pinging, its nightclubs throbbing, its hair dryers blasting, its hot tubs steaming, its skating rinks frozen and its softball fields lit on warm summer nights comes in large part from nuclear energy.

Globe and Mail

Using big data to help solve the building energy problem

Big Data isn’t just an impressive show of new technology, it’s a way to solve problems. Now the U.S. Department of Energy, with the support of partners and allies, has created the SEED Platform Collaborative to help put big data to work on one of the biggest problems in the global effort against the negative effects of climate change – the waste of energy in big buildings.

Energy Manager

U.S. towns look to microgrid

Albany, N.Y., which repeatedly found itself without power for days during storms, is planning a dramatic step by pulling its municipal buildings entirely off the electric grid. The decision by Nassau to rely on solar, wind, landfill gas and battery storage by 2020 puts the town of 5,000 near Albany on the leading edge of a national campaign to develop “microgrids.”

Winnipeg Free Press – Energy Manager Today

Companies in the news

U.S. companies are getting creative about clean energy

Despite uncertainty surrounding the future of the Clean Power Plan and contractual nuances that make even the smallest project feel unnecessarily complex, big businesses seem more committed to renewable energy than ever.  “This time it’s not about fashion, it’s about real economics, about real business opportunity,” said economist Mark Kenber, CEO of the Climate Group.

Green Biz

3 renewable energy companies with big yields

The collapse in energy prices has brought down many companies in the sector. Renewable energy producers, however, many of which sell their power at regulated rates and volumes, still have the same cost of production and profitability levels. It’s a great advantage to have when the rest of your industry has to deal with volatile prices.

The Motley Fool

Enbridge to invest in natural gas, renewable energy

Enbridge Inc. chief executive Al Monaco says his company is aiming to invest $1-billion a year in natural gas and renewable energy projects, as it looks to rebalance its earnings away from oil over the longer term and take advantage of the global push to a lower-carbon economy.

Globe and Mail

Market reports and research

Nova Scotia renewable capacity surges

Nova Scotia is well on its way to meeting its ambitious renewable energy commitments. Using wind power, biomass as well as hydro and tidal energy, Nova Scotia Power has reported it produced 26.6 per cent of the province’s 2015 electricity using renewable sources.

Canadian Manufacturing

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Government programs and policy

Renewable energy requirements for P.E.I. electrical utilities removed

Electrical utilities on P.E.I. are no longer required to purchase a minimum of 15 per cent of their needs from renewable sources.  An amendment has been made to the Renewable Energy Act removing the minimum requirement.

CBC

February smashes temperature records

I am often asked whether I am pessimistic or optimistic about our ability to tackle climate change. Recently, that’s been a hard question to answer. Here’s why:  On the one hand, from Chinese coal consumption peaking years ahead of schedule to an unprecedented global climate agreement, we are making incredible societal and technological progress toward a low carbon economy. 

TreeHugger

International

Caisse to invest in renewable energy in India

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has announced its commitment to invest US$150 million in renewable energy in India as it establishes a CDPQ India based in New Delhi and appoints a managing director for South Asia.

Benefits Canada

U.S. states collaborate regionally on renewables

While the Supreme Court in the U.S. has temporarily delayed implementation of the federal Clean Power Plan, the nation’s first cap-and-trade program designed to cut carbon pollution from the power sector continues to move forward.  The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a pioneering collaboration among nine states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

GreenBiz

5 ways to grow the corporate clean energy market

In 2015,  the U.S. retired 14 GW of fossil-fueled generation. Meanwhile, it brought online 16.4 GW of carbon-free generation, with wind energy leading the mix at 8.5 GW of new installed capacity, according to BNEF’s “Sustainable Energy in America 2016 Factbook” (PDF).

GreenBiz

Solar energy

What is holding back the growth of solar power?

Sixty years ago, the price of solar panels was astronomical. At a cost of $1,910 (£1,350) per watt in today’s money, the only practical use for them was in space on the US Vanguard 1 satellite, which launched in 1958. But slowly and then precipitously the price of building a solar cell came down.

The Guardian

Canadian Solar supplies converters to California farmes

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world’s largest solar power companies,  announced that the Company supplied 2.8 MW of Canadian Solar three-phase inverters to the Brar Family Partnerships in Delano, California.

IT Business

Tenfold increase in London, U.K. solar capacity possible

London could deliver a tenfold increase in solar power over the next 10 years, closing the gap which has seen the capital become the worst performing major city and region in the UK for solar adoption.  That is the conclusion of a new report released today by campaign group Greenpeace.

The Guardian

Vanishing QSolar panel firm founder defends and explains in rare interview

The enigmatic founder of QSolar Ltd., who disappeared a year ago after the Calgary-based solar panel manufacturer suddenly shut down, has just as unexpectedly reappeared.

Calgary herald

Solar panel maker optimistic despite low prices

An abundance of natural resources in Canada is both “a blessing and a curse”, according to Martin Pochtaruk, president of Heliene Inc. a local manufacturer of high quality solar panels.  The Allen’s Side Road facility that began assembling photovoltaic modules employing a combination of robots and human workers in 2010 for primarily an Ontario market, has shifted its sights to buyers in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Sault This Week

Wind power

Armow Wind project comes online in Kincardine, Ont.

Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. and Pattern Energy Group have announced the Armow Wind power facility, located outside Kincardine, Ont. is now up and running, producing enough power to electrify approximately 70,000 Ontario homes each year. The project includes 91 wind turbines that have begun pumping 180 megawatts of clean energy into the Ontario’s power grid. 

Canadian Manufacturing

China new leader in wind power production

China has become the world leader in wind power production after constructing nearly half of all the new turbines built around the globe in 2015. According to statistics released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), China installed 30,500 megawatts of new wind power last year, compared to the world total of 63,000 MW.

Globe and Mail

Electrical grids and transmission

Renewable energy advocates want to stop transmission line

Sparks are expected to fly at a City of Ottawa meeting today in a debate over a new power transmission line to serve South Nepean.  Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the crown corporation responsible for overseeing the electricity needs of the province, has proposed South Nepean needs more electricity — and it needs it fast.

CBC.ca

New technology and products

Extracting fuel from thin air

In the heart of Canada’s oil region, a small company called Carbon Engineering (CE) are developing an industrial process that literally sucks carbon dioxide from the air. At the front of their system, a huge wall of fans pulls the air in, where it’s passed through corrugated sheets of plastic coated with potassium hydroxide.

Forbes.com