About a month ago I did some serious digging into Alberta’s electrical grid going into zero dollar hours for pricing. As in all the power on the grid, for the generators anyway, was free, for a few hours. I thought I had published it, but apparently not, as I was reminded by @ReliableAB. And funny thing is, it happened again this past weekend.
The problem with no one getting paid is no one is getting paid. No business model is sustainable like that. I don’t care about averaging things out. No one wants to give away product for free, especially if they are paying for inputs like natural gas for fuel and staffing.
Alberta had free power for more than a day in August, and seven hours last weekend – how does that happen?
And on the renewable thing:
Manitoba to encourage renewable energy while acknowledging fossil fuel use
Wind and hydro actually pair very well together, as hydro can ramp up and down very quickly. Building wind in Manitoba will allow them to build up their reservoirs and maintain more capacity overall, especially in low water conditions like the prairies have seen in recent years. So, believe it or not, I’m not wholly against that idea, for Manitoba, at least. I’m surprised they haven’t built more until now.
Also, this was from the Canadian Press. Take that for what you will.
Canada makes small emissions cut in 2023, but must ramp up to hit key targets: report