Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Wind turbines near Pincher Creek, Alberta, on Dec. 1, 2023. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Coal power is done in Alberta, but the wind failed to blow the next day
A day after Alberta ceases coal-fired power generation, wind power flatlined for 19 hours.
For nearly all of Wednesday, June 19, wind power generation in Alberta was abysmal. For 19 hours, Alberta’s wind power generation was next to nothing.
From 2:38 a.m. until 9:38 p.m., a period of 19 hours, wind generation remained at or below 2.7 per cent, or less than 130 megawatts. And for six of those hours, wind output was less than one per cent, falling as low as 0.4 per cent at 7:38 p.m. Output was lowest during the lunch and supper hours.
That’s according to data tracked by X account @ReliableAB, which provides an hourly log of the minute-by-minute data posted by the Alberta Electric System Operator, or AESO.
A common narrative among wind power proponents is if you build enough wind farms, scattered over a large area, it’s always blowing somewhere. But Pipeline Online has recorded since January, 2022, that wind in Alberta tends to bottom out in this manner pretty much every month of the year. Usually, it’s for just a few hours. Rarely is it nearly the entire day. But that’s what happened on Wednesday.
At this moment 87.9% of Alberta's electricity is being produced by fossil fuels. Wind is at 0.4% of capacity and producing 0.2% of total generation, while solar is at 41.2% of capacity and producing 7.07% of total generation. At the same time we are importing 195 MW or 2% pic.twitter.com/BZ5KLSfyUE
— Reliable AB Energy (@ReliableAB) June 20, 2024
Here’s a chart showing what happened. The key data is the second column, showing minimal wind output, in megawatts (MW).
| Time | Wind Power Generated (MW) | Wind Capacity (MW) | % of Nameplate |
| 2:38 | 130 | 4748 | 2.7% |
| 3:38 | 123 | 4748 | 2.6% |
| 4:39 | 75 | 4748 | 1.6% |
| 5:38 | 129 | 4748 | 2.7% |
| 6:39 | 86 | 4748 | 1.8% |
| 7:38 | 65 | 4748 | 1.4% |
| 8:38 | 70 | 4748 | 1.5% |
| 9:39 | 61 | 4748 | 1.3% |
| 10:39 | 66 | 4748 | 1.4% |
| 11:39 | 40 | 4748 | 0.8% |
| 12:39 | 40 | 4748 | 0.8% |
| 13:38 | 52 | 4748 | 1.1% |
| 14:39 | 33 | 4748 | 0.7% |
| 15:38 | 49 | 4748 | 1.0% |
| 16:39 | 58 | 4748 | 1.2% |
| 17:39 | 36 | 4748 | 0.8% |
| 18:38 | 23 | 4748 | 0.5% |
| 19:38 | 21 | 4748 | 0.4% |
| 20:38 | 59 | 4748 | 1.2% |
| 21:38 | 117 | 4748 | 2.5% |
| 22:39 | 293 | 4748 | 6.2% |
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And here’s how it looks in graphical form. The orange is rated nameplate capacity, and the sliver of a blue line on the bottom is the actual wind output, as a percentage of capacity, throughout the day.
Data provided by AESO/@ReliableAB
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0073 SaskWorks-Pipeline Online0073 SaskWorks-Pipeline Online
- 0064 Estevan OTS0064 Estevan OTS
- 0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0052 Predator Inspections0052 Predator Inspections
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 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 services0002 gilliss casing services
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And here it is as hard numbers:
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0073 SaskWorks-Pipeline Online0073 SaskWorks-Pipeline Online
- 0064 Estevan OTS0064 Estevan OTS
- 0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0052 Predator Inspections0052 Predator Inspections
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 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 services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
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This comes as Alberta’s last coal-fired power station went off coal, for good, the day before. Here’s the press release from Capital Power, verbatim:
Genesee Generating Station is off coal – all units 100% natural gas-fueled
A significant milestone for the Genesee Repowering project
EDMONTON, Alberta – Capital Power Corporation (TSX: CPX) is pleased to announce that the Genesee Generating Station is now 100% natural gas-fueled, resulting in the facility being off coal over 5 years ahead of the Alberta government mandate.
As part of the Genesee Repowering project, the facility completed simple cycle commissioning for Unit 1 on May 3, simple cycle testing is underway on Unit 2, and Unit 3 has transitioned to natural gas. The project continues to progress with combined cycle completion expected in Q4 2024, which will result in 512 MW of additional net high efficiency, low heat rate capacity from the site.
“Capital Power is immensely proud to cease coal-fired operations at our Genesee Generating Station and deliver up to 3.4 million tonnes of annual emissions reductions through our Genesee Repowering project,” said Jason Comandante, SVP, Head of Canada for Capital Power. “This achievement marks a significant moment in history for this legacy, baseload facility that has delivered reliable and affordable power to Alberta for more than 30 years. Our investment in this facility will result in the most efficient natural gas combined cycle plant in Canada – a feat that significantly reduces emissions while delivering more megawatts of reliable, affordable and clean capacity for our province.”
But Alberta keeps adding wind generation. The number of wind farms has recently increased to 46, according to the AESO. There are now 1,568 grid-scale wind turbines connected to the Alberta grid.
The last coal unit, when it was still operating on coal, typically produced 20x the total output of all 1,568 wind turbines were producing Wednesday evening. That coal unit is now being converted to natural gas.
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0073 SaskWorks-Pipeline Online0073 SaskWorks-Pipeline Online
- 0064 Estevan OTS0064 Estevan OTS
- 0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0052 Predator Inspections0052 Predator Inspections
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 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 services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001