Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
Energy storage in the Alberta context
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...939655?cmp=rss
This is good info, as it shows, given our demand of ~10GW a day, that we could power ~1/11 of the grid for 20 days with the size of storage the Swiss have. Site C is about 1100MW, so that should put it into context that Alberta has no prospect for that level of pumped hydro. You also have to have "good days" to recharge the reservoir. It seems it can be a part of the solution in Alberta, but a small part.
The other interesting bit is ~400k car batteries of storage. There is talk of using EV's as grid storage, but I just don't see that vast number,(which could only use a fraction of the vehicle storage given it's needs of use as a vehicle) and that the pool of vehicles available at any given time will be lower than that you start to see they may be useful for providing small bits of power for grid stability in tight situations, but I don't really get the math on how they could be something of use or reliance in non-extreme cases.
Anyway, always nice to see some real numbers for these things. |
A couple of things to note.
One, any single storage facility today could provide 9% of the entire grid for 20 days is massive. Nowhere will survive with one or two storage facilities and Alberta will require more than most. The two things that will make Alberta more resilient that continues to be ignored are demand flexibility and efficiency. The biggest driver for both of those are high peak prices which Alberta had and will continue to have.
Alberta is unique because only around 6% of demand is residential and 8% commercial. The industrial and transport sectors are absolutely massive. This means any contribution by residential demand flexibility or storage demand response will have a hard time filling the gap. The big unknown is how much efficiency can be gained in the industrial sector. If power prices are high, there'll be a significant incentive to decrease demand. How much is technically feasible I have absolutely no clue