RE: [cdn-nucl-l] Climate Action Nework

According to available data (May 1 2002 to Mar 31 2006) from the Independent Electricity System Operator in Ontario, the capacity-weighted average capacity factor for 58 hydro dams is 52.3%. These dams are owned by several utilities, and range in size from 4.7 to 1451 MW rated capacity. The IESO does not (usually) report the output of generating stations below 20 MW.

The individual monthly average capacity factors range from 2% to 89% for these dams, with an arithmetic average of 48%. The dams with the lowest capacity factors are: Apiroquois 70 MW 6% CF, Arnprior 82 MW 19%, Aubrey Falls 164 MW 9%, Barrett 176 MW 18%, Beck2 PNGS 174 MW 6%, Lowernotch 274 MW 17%, Mountain Chute 170 MW 19%, Rayner 48 MW 2%, Stewartvale 182 MW 18%, Wells, 250 MW 14%. The highest capacity factors are from Beck 2 1451 MW 75% CF, Cameron Falls 81 MW 84%, Clergue 51 MW 89%, Decew Falls 144 MW 82%, Ear Falls 18 MW 78%, Pine Portage 142 MW 75%, Smoky 52 MW 81%. I used the IESO short forms for the names.

Hydro dams serve different purposes. Arnprior, an 82 MW dam with a capacity factor of 19%, is for peaking power, whereas Beck 2 (Niagara Falls 1451 MW 75%) is a baseload plant. I believe Beck2 PNGS is the pumped storage station - it has a low CF because it is designed to meet the peak demand periods in the Golden Horseshoe area.

The Canadian electrical utilities were originally started because of the availability of hydro power, and all the best sites (those close to the demand) were the first to be developed. Sometimes industries (esp. aluminum smelting) were built because of the local availability of hydro power. Only later, with continually increasing demand and improved long-distance transmission, did utilities look to more distant dam sites like northern Quebec, northern Manitoba, Churchill Falls, etc. With a few exceptions, Canada's large-scale hydro capacity has been almost fully exploited.

"There are currently about 2000MW of installed small hydro capacity in Canada, contributing about 3% to the total Canadian installed hydroelectric capacity of 67,000 MW. Ontario Power Generation (previously Ontario Hydro before privatization) has 67 hydroelectric stations throughout the province. About half of these are below 10 MW in capacity and they contribute about 6% of Ontario's power generation. Hydro-Quebec operates fewer smaller stations, relying instead on more large-scale hydroelectric plants. Transalta Utilities operates virtually all the small scale hydro plants in Alberta (Alberta Power has one small plant in Jasper), contributing about 5% of Alberta's total. Nova Scotia operates about 40 small hydro plants supplying about 11% of provincial capacity. New Brunswick also operates about 40 small hydro plants, which contribute about 20% to the province.

A recently completed inventory of Canadian small hydro sites identified over 5500 sites with a technically feasible potential of about 11,000 MW but only about 15 per cent of this total would be economically feasible under currently socio-economic conditions and at the current state-of the -art. If capital cost can be reduced by 10 to 15 per cent, which should be achievable though further technological improvements, a further 2000 MW of economically exploitable small hydro capacity will be available. A good number of these will be small hydro projects. In a deregulated electrical generation environment, hydro power offer the prospect of earning longer-term, sustainable return. A comparison of the yield factors of various types of Energy plant suggests that hydro power remains the most valuable form of energy since it provided the highest quantity of energy produced over its lifetime as compared to the energy required for manufacture, operation and disposal including secondary energy.

Rehabilitation of historical plants is also a cost effective strategy. Quite apart from new plant, many stations are now at an age where maintenance and refurbishment are critical. Now, owing to rapid developments in computerized hydraulic design, it is possible not only to restore older plants but actually to improve their performance. "

cheers

Morgan Brown

-----Original Message-----
From: cdn-nucl-l-admin@mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA [mailto:cdn-nucl-l-admin@mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA]On Behalf Of Andrew Daley
Sent: October 22, 2006 5:17 PM
To: Neil Craik; cdn-nucl-l@mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA
Subject: Re: [cdn-nucl-l] Climate Action Nework

Not to mentino there have been studies that show there is a significant amount of methane released form rotting vegetation coaught in the ehad water of dams.

I don't have any numbers but considering methane if 4 times (??) as potenet a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide.....well I don't know how that would save anything

Neil Craik <ncraik@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

Hello nuclear energy folks,

This October 18, I attended a Climate Action Workshop at UNB in Fredericton. I would have walked to the workshop but it was raining.

John Bennett, executive director of Climate Action Network was the workshop leader. One of his overheads showed the amount of electrical energy generated in Canada by hydro was about the same as sum of thermal and nuclear at present and that the total electrical demand could be reduced over the next 10 to 20 years by improvements in energy efficiency so that eventually only the present hydro amount would required.

I pointed about that only generating electricity by water was nonsense because of the impossible task of transmitting hydro power across Canada. I did not get into the argument about how much could really be reduced by energy efficiency, but said that Bennett's credibility would be impaired by pushing that hydro could be enough scenario.

Unfortunately this was at the end of the workshop and not time allowed me to explain the realities of electrical power generation and distribution.

Later I deduced from the NB Power annual report that in this Province hydro was only 15% of the total kWh generated and only had a capacity factor of 36% (because full water flow is only available for about six weeks of the year).

Copies of the overhead was not available, so I may have the years wrong, but have any of you heard of this "only hydro needed to save the climate " gospel ? Has any one seen the nonsense overhead before ?

More information can be obtained from The official Climate Action Tour website www.climatetour.ca

and the website for the CAN-RAC, www.climateactionnetwork.ca

Neil G. Craik

130 Oxford Street

Fredericton

New Brunswick E3B 2W3

phone (506) 454 0274

email ncraik@nbnet.nb.ca

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