For 3 days in a row, Alberta’s wind power production has cratered to just about zero

Brian Zinchuk

Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online

Alberta’s Bull Creek wind farm, southeast of Provost and along the Saskatchewan border. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

For the third day in a row, and four days out of the last six, Alberta’s wind power production utterly collapsed. Over the last three days, wind power generation dropped to less than half of one per cent of nameplate capacity, and on one day it fell to one per cent.

At 12:35 p.m. on Oct. 3, Alberta’s wind power generation dropped to just 6 megawatts out of an installed capacity of 2,734. That’s 0.2 per cent, or two one-thousandths of nameplate capacity.

Total power generation in Alberta at 1:35 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3. TNG is total net to grid, in megawatts. 26 of the 29 wind farms attached to the grid were showing zero power production. Alberta Electric System Operator

Only one singular wind farm was making any power, out of 29 attached to the grid. Those 29 wind farms have hundreds of combined wind turbines between them across southern Alberta.

Just one of 29 wind farms was contributing any power at all to the Alberta grid at 12:35 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3. Alberta Electric System Operator

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This followed a drop to 13 megawatts at 3:57 on Oct. 2.

Alberta power generation at 3:57 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2. Alberta Electric System Operator

And on Oct. 1, it hit 8 megawatts at 11:45 a.m. and stayed around that number for the next 1.5 hours.

Alberta wind generation at 11:45 a.m. on Oct. 1. MC is maximum capacity, in megawatts. TNG is total net to grid, in megawatts. 26 of the 29 wind farms attached to the grid were showing zero power production. Alberta Electric System Operator

Surprisingly, the province has not been importing large volumes of electricity during these periods of next to zero wind power. That’s likely because the massive Travers solar project has come online, with a maximum capacity of 465 megawatts. On Oct. 3 it was putting out 352 megawatts.

Solar power production in Alberta at 12:35 p.m. on Oct. 3, Highlighted is the contribution of the new Travers solar facility. Alberta Electric System Operator

On Wednesday, Sept. 28, Alberta’s total wind generation fell to 26 megawatts at 1:55 p.m, or one per cent of capacity.

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• 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
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