Letter to the Editor: Wind and battery power were non existent in Alberta last week

Letter to the Editor

Letters to the Editor can be sent to brian.zinchuk@pipelineonline.ca

Alberta wind turbines. Photo by Clive Schaupmeyer

I believe your readers will want to be aware that wind power and battery storage power was essentially NON EXISTENT in Alberta during the very cold weather on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.

The attached review from a neighbor in Saskatchewan further examines the recent cold weather and low wind power in Alberta.

https://pipelineonline.ca/albertas-now-32-wind-farms-with-3076-megawatts-capacity-put-out-just-15-megawatts-at-supper-on-tuesday-and-3-megawatts-at-midnight/#/?playlistId=0&videoId=0

Periods of very low or no wind power are not unusual in Alberta and repeat every year. The situation was first documented in 2013 in a report entitled “Alberta – A Case Study in Wind Energy Management” The author noted:

“For 7 per cent of the time there was essentially no wind generation at all (less than 1% of nameplate capacity). That implies that for more than an hour a day, happening at some random time, there will be no wind available which means that another reliable source will have to be on standby.”

A review of publicly available data from the Alberta Electric System Operator for 2017 shows 237 hrs of zero wind power and 1220 hours when wind generation was between 0 to 100 MW (about 1 per cent of Alberta demand)

During the recent very cold weather, Alberta pool power price spiked as natural gas-powered stations were the “only game in town”. That cost Albertans in excess of $5 million incremental. Shame on such poor planning.

All Albertans need to be aware that NO reliable dispatchable power plants have been built in Alberta for the last 5+ years. But then why would private money be invested in facilities that will be stranded by 2035 caused by federal government plans, with no complaint by the provincial government of Alberta?

Sent with great concern by

Ivan Purdy, P. Eng (retired)

Resident of Red Deer

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