A gathering in Prince Edward County

Today in Picton people will assemble at a rally against what has become a 9 turbine industrial wind development in a ecologically sensitive area near Lake Ontario. I won't be attending as it's a 3-4 hour drive away, but I will contribute by arguing the existence of the contract for the location, at this time, is indicative of negligence at Ontario electricity system operator (IESO).

Details at the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists Facebook page

This rally coincides with a legal action launched by the Association to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC). 

APPEC has commenced legal proceedings naming the Independent Electricity Operator (IESO) and WPD White Pines Wind Inc. (WPD) as respondents. APPEC alleges that the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) contract between the IESO and WPD should have been terminated as soon as it became evident that WPD would be unable or incapable of fulfilling the FIT contract terms. These FIT contract terms have been made publicly available and are well known.
In 2010, a FIT contract for 60MW wind energy project to be operational within three (3) years was offered by the Ontario Power Authority (now the IESO) to WPD. The contract allowed for termination if the project was not able to deliver at least 75% of the contracted power.  -APPEC (on Facebook)

The inability to deliver 75% of contracted capacity is but one of the reasons WPD cannot now fulfill their end of the feed-in tariff contract.

Site C'ing: BC's electricity adventure

Site C is a hydroelectric project in British Columbia that may soon to be cancelled.

The commentary surrounding the Site C project has been driven by political posturing, and a recent change in government is therefore likely to end, at least temporarily suspend, the project. The situation is worth commenting on from afar because while it's B.C. today, in another time and other places some different - and many of the same - people will be discussing the merits of big, public, baseload power projects and small, private, sporadic power projects.

"BC Hydro’s Site C Clean Energy Project will be a third dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in northeast B.C. It will provide 1,100 megawatts (MW) of capacity, and produce about 5,100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity each year..."   BC Hydro

I have 4 questions I wish to address in discussing the future of Site C:

1. Will there be a need for capacity?
2. Will there be a need for energy?
3. What are the costs and benefits of a Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Independent Power Producers (IPPs)?
4. What are the costs and benefits of publicly owned generation assets

While Site C would have a reservoir (9,300 hectares), the main energy store for the system would remain the Williston Reservoir (177,300 hectares) upstream on the same system. It's not surprising the site would generate 5,100 GWh annually as the implied 53% capacity factor[1] is essentially what the B.C. hydroelectric fleet achieves annually. [2]

Many of those claiming Site C won't be necessary comically follow that argument up with a list of alternative generation technologies. To evaluate the alternatives it is first necessary to determine the value Site C may provide.

B.C. currently has adequate supply - it's peak "load" occurred early in 2017, and the province was a net exporter of power during that peak (as it is during most peaks). BC Hydro's resource planning anticipates the ability to meet the peaks to become less certain, and disappear around 2023. The need for additional annual energy is predicted to come later. The difference between the ability to meet peaks and the ability to provide enough energy throughout the year is important.

Graphics from BC Hydro. Links to view source graphics: Capacity and Energy