Report released on power emergencies

Posted on September 12, 2024 by Taber Times

By Al Beeber
Southern Alberta Newspapers

A review has been conducted into two electricity events, one in January when an emergency alert was issued after extreme cold drove demand in Alberta to record levels.

A report by the Market Surveillance Administrator has determined that on Jan. 13, high demand, unanticipated generation outages, low wind generation and reduced electricity imports because of extreme weather in neighbouring provinces contributed to the shortage of power.

That shortage prompted pleas for Albertans to reduce their energy consumption.

The report suggests that the emergency alert reduced energy consumption by 350 megawatts which ensured rolling outages in Alberta were avoided.

On April 5, the Alberta Electric System Operator directed transmission and distribution companies to reduce power consumption by 244 MW to avoid a potential system failure which prompted rotating outages during a period of 26 minutes. High demand wasn’t the reason for the shortage but rather challenges with accurately forecasting wind generation. Also a factor were unplanned generator outages, says the report.

“The January 13 event occurred during a week-long extreme cold snap that saw temperatures in Alberta plummet below -40 °C. The grid was stressed by several temperature-driven factors, including record high demand and equipment failures, leading to generation outages. British Columbia and the U.S. Northwest experienced similar weather conditions, which limited the availability of imports from other jurisdictions,” says an executive summary of January’s event.

“Leading up to January 13, the AESO’s adequacy forecasts predicted tight but manageable conditions. Low wind generation was expected, but other supply sources were forecast by the AESO to be sufficient. However, rising demand and unanticipated generation outages led to Energy Emergency Alert notices from the AESO and imminent load shed. Consequently, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency issued an Alberta Emergency Alert urging Albertans to limit non-essential electricity use (the “Alert”).

“The Alert was broadcast over TV, radio, websites, social media, the Alberta Emergency Alert mobile app, and compatible smart phones. The MSA estimates the Alert reduced demand by approximately 350 MW over an hour. As a result, no firm load was shed during this event,” the summary states.

The report says that without the extreme temperatures in January, the alert wouldn’t have been necessary, noting that there was a record peak demand of 12,384 MW on Jan. 11. The extreme cold is estimated to have increased peak demand by 10 per cent compared to average temperatures in January.

It notes that outages at several generation plans reduced electricity supply on Jan. 13 and wind generation was low.

Regarding the April situation, it says on April 3 a supply surplus event was quickly followed by an energy emergency alert after the coincidental loss of about 3,000 megawatts of wind and solar generation.

“This event demonstrates how supply adequacy can shift rapidly and unexpectedly,” says the report.

On the morning of April 5, a series of outages in short succession “compounded with existing outages to reduce the supply of thermal generation by approximately 4,000 MW. Combined with approximately 400 MW less wind generation than anticipated, this led to emergency conditions resulting in 244 MW of firm load shed. This was the first firm load shed in the province since 2013.”

In a statement Lethbridge East MLA and Minister of Affordability and Utilities Nathan Neudorf said “the grid alerts in January and April served as powerful reminders of the importance of having reliable electricity. The recent MSA report provides a thoughtful analysis of these two events and confirms that our government is taking the best course of action to ensure Albertans have affordable and reliable power both now and in the future.”

MSA administrator and CAO Derek Olmstead, in his own statement, said “engagement is underway on the detailed design of Alberta’s restructured energy market, which will include moving to a day-ahead market where generators will commit their dispatchable power on the previous day, rather than an hour beforehand. The MSA’s report reinforces the Alberta government’s decision to implement a day-ahead market, which will help to better prepare for and respond to power shortages during times of high demand in the province.”

The MSA has made several recommendations including that:

1) The AESO should ensure that an efficient and effective unit commitment process is developed as part of the Restructured Energy Market (REM)/Day-Ahead Market (DAM).

2) The AESO should review the calculation of market supply cushion and retain all published data.

3) The AESO should publish methodology used to determine import capability under emergency conditions.

4) The AESO should publish system event reports.

5) Market participants should improve available capability declarations submitted to the AESO.

On this recommendation, the MSA states “some generation assets routinely submit default availability declarations untilclose to real time. These default submissions declare that the asset can provide its full capacity, or close to full capacity, when often temperatures or site conditions mean this is not possible. Having these participants accurately reflect the capability of their assets sooner would help the AESO properly forecast the supply demand balance.

6) Market participants should improve the input of physical parameters that may be relevant to unit commitment decisions made by the AESO/

7) Market participants should improve the quality of outage reasons submitted to the AESO. The MSA notes that outage reasons declared by market participants aren’t always adequately descriptive.