EDMONTON — JASON WANG, senior analyst of the Pembina Institute’s Electricity program, made the following statement in response to the Government of Alberta’s announcement on nuclear energy.
“The Government of Alberta today indicated that it is looking at options to reduce the province's over-reliance on natural gas for electricity generation. This is a positive step — governments across Canada are finding that building a reliable, affordable electricity supply will require an all-of-the-above approach. But in focusing only on nuclear power, it is neglecting other cheaper and faster options. In the near-term, wind, solar and battery storage are proven, reliable and available technologies that are quick and easy to build on time and within — or even under — budget. That’s on the supply side. An even faster and cheaper way to achieve an affordable and reliable grid includes demand-side management — helping households and businesses lower and shift their energy use — and distributed energy systems like roof-top solar.
“Nuclear power, on the other hand, while certainly proven, reliable and low-emission, has historically been delivered late and over budget. Our analysis of nuclear facilities built around the world within the last six years has found nuclear projects are almost always subject to time and cost overruns — with some being delayed by up to a decade and costing double the original projected amount. As our latest update shows, Alberta is failing to maximize the lowest-cost options: wind and solar. These technologies, paired with storage and other grid modernization measures, could be quickly scaled up to reliably meet more electricity demand.
“Time is of the essence when it comes to meeting rapidly growing electricity demand. Power-hungry consumers like data centres prefer low-cost clean energy and they want power now, not in 10 years. We’re already seeing some of that demand going to jurisdictions with clean energy. Bell Canada’s data centres in B.C. are just one example.
“Regardless of the generation mix in Alberta, the province is currently trying to run a 21st century electricity system on 20th century infrastructure. To increase the reliability and affordability of the grid and to guard against grid alerts, we need the province to adopt a range of tools that will modernize the grid — including interprovincial interties, demand-side measures and long-duration energy storage.
"Around the world, governments are modernizing their electricity systems to make the most of their grids and to encourage innovation and incorporate new technologies. If Alberta doesn't realize this very soon and follow suit, its economy will be left behind.”
Contact
Hanneke Brooymans
Senior communications lead, Pembina Institute
587-336-4396
Background
Report: Down But Not Out
Blog: Alberta is swimming against the tide on clean electricity
Op-ed: Alberta’s renewables sector is down, but let’s not count it out
