It appears that Mother Nature decided to give the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) a good run for its money.
On Monday, Albertans received a “grid alert,” cautioning everyone to curtail their power usage or risk a blackout. Why? A trifecta of hot weather, a BC outage hampering power imports, and the wind— apparently taking a day off, decided to turn wind turbines into expensive net-zero lawn ornaments.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith urgently took to social media, emphasizing the strain on their power infrastructure, a stark contrast to the blaring heat outside. With the interconnection to BC compromised and wind farms barely producing, Alberta was leaning heavily on natural gas and solar. Smith’s message was clear: Alberta needed a more robust power generation strategy, one that could withstand such vulnerabilities.
AESO, in a bid to manage the crisis, requested residents avoid using power-hungry appliances such as dishwashers at least until the evening.
The energy statistics during this period painted a vivid picture. Wind energy, usually a formidable contributor, was only managing around 1% of its installed capacity. Solar power, though performing well earlier, was about to hit its daily decline as evening approached. And the electricity flowing between British Columbia and Alberta was at a mere trickle— just 3 megawatts.
This crisis wasn’t an isolated event. Just a day before, Texas had faced a similar grid stress due to a mix of high temperatures and dwindling renewable energy sources.
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