Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
For the fourth time in as many days, and the second time in 17 hours, Canada’s most energy-rich province, by far, again found itself in an electrical crisis, short of energy.
The Alberta Electric System Operator declared its fourth “grid alert” at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 15, less than 10 hours after the end of the third alert.
https:/twitter.com/theAESO/status/1746913141127344234?s=20
“The AESO has declared a Grid Alert due to extreme cold, and several power facility outages,” the AESO’s post on X said.
The difference is that this alert was not during the evening peak and on a weekend, but during the morning of a workday.
By 9:05 a.m., the alert was over. At that time, the numbers appeared had improved. Alberta was actually exporting 93 megawatts to British Columbia and 25 to Montana, while Saskatchewan was sending 92 to Alberta. That soon reversed for Montana, and a few minutes later Montana was sending Alberta five megawatts.
The Grid Alert has ended as increasing wind and solar generation have created some relief on the system. Please continue conservation efforts during peak hours of 4-7 p.m. as extreme cold continues to challenge all of us in Western Canada. pic.twitter.com/iDFmWUM1db
— AESO (@theAESO) January 15, 2024
The Dispatched Contingency Reserve (DCR) was at 517 megawatts, based on an internal load of 11,381 megawatts and generation of 11,407 megawatts.
Unlike previous days where wind was minimal or even flatlined (it hit zero megawatts the morning of Jan. 14), wind was producing 564 megawatts. And solar was on the board, at 121 megawatts and rising. Of the 45 wind farms in Alberta, 33 were producing power, despite temperatures ranging from -31 C at Pincher Creek and Vulcan, -32 C in Lethbridge, Brooks and Drumheller, -33 C in Medicine Hat, and -37 C in Skiff. Wind power production coming online on Monday is in sharp contrast to Thursday evening, when nearly every wind farm shut down as temperatures approached -30 C. Below that temperature, cold brittle behaviour of materials can significantly weaken them, running the risk of catastrophic failure.
The X post from the AESO warned the province wasn’t out of the woods, yet. “The Grid Alert has ended as increasing wind and solar generation have created some relief on the system. Please continue conservation efforts during peak hours of 4-7 p.m. as extreme cold continues to challenge all of us in Western Canada,” it said.
- 0072 Outlaw Buckers and Oil Kings 20240072 Outlaw Buckers and Oil Kings 2024
- 0069 Sask Oil Show 2024 banquet tickets0069 Sask Oil Show 2024 banquet tickets
- 0071 Pride Upkeep 2024 Packages0071 Pride Upkeep 2024 Packages
- 0070 Sask Oil Show 2024 pre-register0070 Sask Oil Show 2024 pre-register
- 0068 Sask Oil Show 2024 booth0068 Sask Oil Show 2024 booth
- 0067 PFM SaskWorks Payroll Investment Plan0067 PFM SaskWorks Payroll Investment Plan
- 0066 WBPC Promo video 30 seconds0066 WBPC Promo video 30 seconds
- 0065 Anova Resources field operator Oxbow0065 Anova Resources field operator Oxbow
- 0064 Estevan OTS0064 Estevan OTS
- 0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher
- 0062 TED_EPAC_Technology_300062 TED_EPAC_Technology_30
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0060 Arizona Lithium Lease building0060 Arizona Lithium Lease building
- 0059 Southeast College Heavy Equipment Operator0059 Southeast College Heavy Equipment Operator
- 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
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click Before You Dig large text0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click Before You Dig large text
- 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
- 0015 Latus Viro0015 Latus Viro
- 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