Two Saturday evenings ago, something unprecedented happened in the Province of Alberta. Provincial residents received an emergency alert notification asking them to conserve electricity use as Alberta’s electricity system, operated by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), was in a level 3 grid alert. Extreme cold, which brought with it low wind, combined with a few unanticipated outages from natural gas generators, left Alberta on the cusp of relying on load shedding to maintain the stability of its grid. Just before the emergency alert was sent out, the last resource keeping us going was energy storage.

Please bear momentarily with some technical details. Energy storage resources are grid-connected assets, such as batteries, that can take in energy at one time—charging—and give it back at a later time—discharging. This storage ability has different uses, but most simply it lets us store energy from times of low demand and use it at different times of high demand. Just like power lines let us move energy across space, energy storage lets us move energy across time. Most other supply chains, like fossil fuels, agriculture or even simply product manufacturing have long used storage in the form of storage tanks, grain elevators, or warehouses. Storage allows these supply chains to be optimized and avoids the complexities and difficulties of needing to supply products in real time to directly match demand.

While lithium batteries, similar to the ones in our phones, laptops, and increasingly EVs, are the bulk of contemporary energy storage installations, energy storage can take many other forms, such as pumped hydro, compressed air, thermal storage, flow batteries, and more.

Returning to the emergency alert on January 13, in the hours leading up to it, storage was playing a critical role for the grid by providing “operating reserves.” This means that the province’s 190 megawatts of storage capacity was standing by, ready to discharge in the case that the AESO needed them during an emergency or reliability event. By charging during times of low demand and discharging in times of high demand, storage can optimize how electricity from our generators makes it to customers, relieving strain on the system in the process. As demand on the grid ticked up and Alberta’s generators were unable to keep up, storage resources were called on to fill in the gap.

Unfortunately, due some of the legacy structures of our electricity market and regulations, storage is still a relatively nascent resource in Alberta and could only hold off the emergency alert for an hour or two. The emergency ultimately passed without serious consequence but it’s a powerful sign that something needs to change. Increasing Alberta’s energy storage would help the province meet peak demand, potentially avoiding the need for future emergency alerts.

Storage can also provide far more than just reliability—it is also a boon for affordability. Storage takes low-cost electricity, charging when demand is low or when renewables are plentiful, and discharges at higher-priced times, such as when demand is high and renewable output is low. More competition during high-priced times brings down the cost of high-priced hours and stabilizes the cost of electricity, to the benefit of Albertans and our economy.

Other provinces have recognized these benefits and are acting to enable investment in storage, at scale. Ontario is a good example. The province is currently building over 2,500MW of battery storage to meet critical capacity needs while ensuring Ontario’s clean electricity advantage is maintained. Going further, Ontario is advancing long-duration storage projects like the Ontario Pumped Storage Project and Marmora Pumped Storage Project that have the potential for greater reliability upsides including the ability to run for long periods of time.

Ontario has a diverse grid with a variety of resources on it: nuclear, gas, renewables, hydro, and more. Storage works well with all these resources. Indeed, much of the world’s existing pumped hydro storage was built in the 1970s and 1980s to provide a flexible complement to nuclear power, which isn’t meant to ramp up and down. Storage can optimize all resources while providing electricity when it is needed most, and Ontario’s pursuit of energy storage exemplifies this.

Nova Scotia is similarly investing in up to 400MW of storage, which will help it to develop its behemoth offshore wind resources and ease its transition off of coal power. This is especially significant considering the smaller size of the province as the result will be even more storage per capita than Ontario. Even our neighbours in Saskatchewan are building a 20MW battery near Regina.

Alberta can realize these benefits too. The province has 190MW of batteries installed now, but there are presently just under 3,000MW of standalone storage in development, with more storage in development paired with solar, wind, and gas facilities.

TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2024 /CNW/ - Today Canada's national trade association for energy storage, Energy Storage Canada (ESC), released a foundational report on the benefits of Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) in Ontario. The report, conducted by Dunsky Advisors, Long Duration Storage Opportunity Assessment: A Critical Component in Growing Ontario's Clean Energy Economy, illustrates the substantial potential of LDES to contribute to the realization of the province's economic growth and energy transition objectives. 

The report identifies a minimum of 6 gigawatts (GW) of +10-hour duration energy storage starting in 2032, projecting it could achieve savings between $11 billion to $20 billion, compared to the Independent Electricity System Operator's (IESO) baseline Pathways to Decarbonization (P2D) scenario released last year.

These findings follow recent developments in the province, including last year's record-setting procurement by the IESO of 880 MW of energy storage capacity and this month's Directive from Minister of Energy, Todd Smith, for the IESO to advance work on the Meaford and Marmora pumped hydro storage projects and to determine the need for additional LDES resources.

"As a testament to the provincial government's initiative on market reform, Ontario is already recognized as a national and global leader in energy storage," states Justin Rangooni, Executive Director of ESC. "The IESO needs to capitalize on that momentum and continue future-proofing our energy system by making a clear commitment to procuring cost-saving Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) resources. We have the opportunity to establish LDES as a Made-In-Ontario solution and to ensure the province remains at the forefront of global clean tech investment and innovation."

With industrial expansion and net zero driving steady growth for the province's electricity demand through 2050, the priority is on decarbonizing existing supply and scaling up non-emitting generation to meet the projected need for 2 to 3 times our current supply levels within thirty years. As a group of technologies, LDES – which can store and discharge energy over periods of +10 hours – will play a critical role by integrating intermittent renewables, hydroelectric and baseload nuclear while providing a source of reliable capacity during low-generation, high-demand periods. 

Dunsky's findings establish the previously unquantified potential of LDES to insure against potential development risks and vulnerabilities in the IESO's P2D scenarios while also optimising the performance of Small Modular Reactors (SMR), new grid-scale nuclear, blue and green hydrogen assets, and other emerging resources. The electricity grid challenges experienced by Western Canada during recent extreme cold weather events further emphasize the growing need for firm capacity resources to deliver system reliability. 

To allow sufficient headway for the uniquely long lead times of LDES development, the report encourages IESO to further examine the amount of LDES required in Ontario, and consider competitive procurements as early as 2025.

In response to ESC's report, Julia Souder, chief executive officer of the LDES Council, a global non-profit advancing research and deployment for long duration storage, says, "Accelerating the development and deployment of long duration energy storage offers the best pathway to full decarbonization for Ontario, Canada, and the world. The data is clear. Long duration energy storage will save the world economy $540 billion and transform into a trillion-dollar industry by 2040. Canada now has an opportunity to take a leadership position in this emerging energy solution, ensuring reliable renewable energy for its citizens, and a place in the growing global market for a key component of the energy transition."

Click here to listen:

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-189-blue-sky/clip/16035953-what-lessons-sask.-taking-albertas-power-grid-problems

CBC Segment AB/SK
Blue Sky with Leisha Grebinski
Aired: January 17, 2024

The Saskatchewan government has pointed to Alberta's power grid issues during this week's deep freeze as a reason to push back against the transition from coal and natural gas, but environmental economists say the takeaway should be about sharing electricity between provinces and making more flexible grids. We hear from Sara Hastings-Simon (professor of earth, energy and environment in Calgary), the U of R's Brett Dolter and Margot Hurlbert, and Robert Tremblay with Energy Storage Canada.