Alberta issues second grid alert in three days as wind power generation collapses, again

Brian Zinchuk

Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online

Twitter/Alberta Electric System Operator

Another supper in Alberta is not being powered by wind generation.

Well, 99.54 per cent not powered by wind.

And by 4:53 p.m., the provincial grid operator declared the second “grid alert” this week.

As of 4:07 p.m., as the work day was drawing to a close and the sun in retreating behind the Rocky Mountains, Alberta’s wind capacity across now 35 wind farms was putting out just 35 megawatts out of 3,618 megawatts nameplate capacity.

• 0084 EMP Metals Pipeline Online
  0084 EMP Metals Pipeline Online
• 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
  0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
• 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
  0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
• 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
  0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
• 0076 Latus only
  0076 Latus only
• 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
  0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
• 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
  0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
• 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
  0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
• 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
  0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
• 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
• 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
  0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
• 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
• 0022 Grimes winter hiring
• 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
• 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
• 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
• 0011
• 0006 JK Junior
• 0002 gilliss casing services
  0002 gilliss casing services
• 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
  9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
• 9001

The Alberta Electric System Operator now lists 36 wind farms attached to the grid, an addition of one more from earlier in the week. The total nameplate capacity was 3,466 megawatts on Tuesday.

Power generation in Alberta as of 4:07 p.m. on Dec. 1. MC is maximum capacity, in megawatts, TNG is total net to grid, and DER is dispatched and accepted contingency reserve. Alberta Electric System Operator

You have to take the total number with a bit of a grain of salt, as it usually takes several weeks from a facility being listed on the AESO website to it actually producing power to the grid. So the last half dozen or so facilities, with more than 500 megawatts, aren’t fully online yet. But even so, out of the 36 facilities listed, 27 were listing “zero” in power to the grid.

Alberta Electric System Operator

A few minutes later, solar power dropped off to nothing, as it does each and every evening. But this occurred at about 4:20 p.m., as days get shorter leading to the winter solstice.

An hour later, one of Alberta’s three batteries was called into service, with Summerview providing its full 10 megawatts to the grid.

And as much-touted “cheap” wind and solar fell off the grid, pool electricity prices were forecast to max-out at the highest available level, $1,000 per megawatt hour. This same thing occurred on Nov. 29, at supper time. By 4:05 it had already hit $861 per megawatt hour. As coal has largely been eliminated from the system, with only two coal-fired units and one dual-fuel left, natural gas was making up 82 per cent of power production.

Also at supper time on Nov. 29, the AESO issued a “grid alert,” calling for lower consumption.

All of this is occurring before widespread adoption of electric vehicles.

• 0084 EMP Metals Pipeline Online
  0084 EMP Metals Pipeline Online
• 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
  0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
• 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
  0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
• 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
  0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
• 0076 Latus only
  0076 Latus only
• 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
  0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
• 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
  0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
• 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
  0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
• 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
  0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
• 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
• 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
  0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
• 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
• 0022 Grimes winter hiring
• 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
• 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
• 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
• 0011
• 0006 JK Junior
• 0002 gilliss casing services
  0002 gilliss casing services
• 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
  9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
• 9001