TABER, Alta. – Alberta electricity producers looking for ways to wean themselves off conventional energy sources are considering switching to more wind, solar and thermal power.
Among them is Medicine Hat, Alta., which provides gas and electricity to city customers.
Russ Smith of the city’s utility division told an alternative energy conference in Taber March 17 that it is adopting new plans to conserve and find new energy sources.
Energy conservation in Medicine Hat starts with weekly education programs to show the public practical ways to reduce demand, such as adding new weather stripping and sealing windows.
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Another approach is to find more renewable energy to ease its reliance on natural gas, despite the 3,000 natural gas wells located in the Medicine Hat region.
All new plans must make sense economically.
“Before you get into this really neat technology, you should ask, ‘what am I using this energy for and why,’ ” Smith said.
The city is considering a 15 megawatt wind farm that could provide up to 40,000 megawatts a year. Solar and thermal studies are also on the list.
Energy providers such as Enmax have already invested in wind power near Taber and Pincher Creek, Alta.
The Enmax project near Taber opened in 2007 with 37 turbines producing 80 megawatts, which are sold to the City of Calgary, said company spokesperson Rob Falconer.
Corporations and individuals considering wind power need to do plenty of research beforehand.
“You need to understand the wind regime on your site,” Falconer said.
Potential investors should assess the costs for buying the unit, shipping it to the site, constructing towers and platforms and generating each kilowatt of power.
Falconer said bigger is better because of economies of scale.
Larger systems require a bigger capital investment but over the lifetme of the system, their cost per unit of energy produced is lower.
Municipalities welcome these kinds of developments but expect each proposal to go through all municipal approvals and land use bylaws, said John Sinclair of the Municipal District of Taber, where two wind farms were built in the last two years.
The municipality wants feasibility studies that include finding sites acceptable to the neighbours as well as comprehensive wind studies.
Alberta has more than 12,000 megawatts of electricity available at any given time. It obtains about 75 percent of its electricity from conventional coal fired generation followed by industrial cogeneration at 12 percent, hydro power at four percent and wind power at two percent.
To meet peak demands, the province imports electricity from British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Demand for more electricity in the province has increased by 28 percent since 2000 and is expected to rise by 3.5 percent in the next 20 years to support major development areas such as Fort McMurray, the region between Calgary and Edmonton and the industrial heartland at Fort Saskatchewan.
As a result, the province needs to find an additional 5,000 megawatts by 2017 and 11,500 megawatts by 2027.
