Photo: Wind turbine owned by OREC in Zurich, Ontario PHOTO: MARION SIEKIERSKI
By Graham Findlay, Angela Keller-Herzog and Cecile Wilson
As we move from our record-breaking summer of smoke, fire, heat and rain into the fall and winter, what can we look forward to? Will we have to endure ice storms, freezing rain and bitter cold?
Whatever the changing climate brings us, we know that the current energy transition to low-carbon sources is necessary to limit the worsening effects of global warming and climate destabilization.
Earlier this year, Community Associations For Environmental Sustainability (CAFES) conducted city-wide workshops to hear from residents in different wards about their concerns regarding climate change and environmental sustainability. One of the top-ranked concerns was the security of the energy supply.
Renewable energy siting regulations under reviewIn July, Ottawa City Council paused the siting of renewable energy projects. A draft of the new regulations is expected to go before committee and the full City Council in December or January.
In its October 2023 report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) affirmed that the bulk of success in reducing global emissions so far was achieved thanks to solar photovoltaic, wind power and electric vehicles. Not only are solar and wind energy now much cheaper sources of energy than fossil fuel or nuclear, but battery storage costs are down 75 per cent from just five years ago. Interestingly, it is wind turbine zoning regulation that is the most controversial. We need to ensure that the regulations currently being drafted by City Hall allow wind turbines, along with solar and battery storage, within Ottawa''s expansive boundaries.
Even more tantalizing is the prospect of local community investment in these ideas. Instead of letting distant pension funds do the investment work, we can do much of it ourselves. Ottawa is an active centre of investment in renewable energy through the Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative (OREC). OREC members currently own two wind turbines in Ontario, plus many solar energy projects right here in Ottawa. This kind of initiative creates ownership of power generation within the community, leads to greater local understanding of the energy industry and its challenges and delivers economic benefits.
Addressing wind power''s challengesOne of the complaints about wind power is the intermittency of wind. Clustering wind turbines with solar photovoltaic and battery storage stabilizes energy outputs so they can respond to fluctuations in local energy demand.
Wind resources in Eastern Ontario are commercially viable with turbines designed for lighter wind regions. The wind industry makes siting decisions carefully, seeking a good relationship between people at home and at work and the turbines operating in fields nearby. The provincial minimum setback is 550 meters for a single turbine and 650 meters for two machines. In addition, acoustic maximum thresholds apply so that under most circumstances the existing prescribed setbacks exceed the minimum of 550 meters. If sound level complaints occur, the operator can modulate the turbine''s output to reduce noise emissions.
Wind turbines have a reputation, exaggerated by some media, for posing danger to birds, but the number of birds killed annually by contact with turbines pales in comparison with birds killed by feral and domestic cats and by collisions with buildings. Nevertheless, the wind industry has embraced mitigation methods to reduce avian mortality. The American Bird Conservancy recognizes that climate change threatens the survival of birds and supports wind turbines when they are sited to avoid migration paths and stopover sites.
If you care about renewable energy and climate resiliency in Ottawa:
Graham Findlay is a director of OREC with two decades in the renewable energy industry. Angela Keller-Herzog is the executive director of CAFES. Cecile Wilson is a resident of the Glebe and interested in climate change, renewable energy and social justice.
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Ontario''s electricity grid, like all grids around the world, was designed as a one-way street: to generate, transmit and deliver electricity to customers. Back then, these pioneers likely couldn''t have imagined that the electricity grid would become a two-way interactive system, capable of supporting variable supply from renewable energy, or accommodating electric vehicles, energy storage, home generation and a host of other innovations.
We''re gonna rock down to electrification avenue
The electricity grid is about to undergo another major transformation thanks to widespread electrification. The Canadian Climate Institute defines electrification as ''the process of switching energy sources from fossil fuels to electricity; such as using an electric heat pump rather than a natural gas or oil furnace to heat a building, or switching from an internal combustion engine vehicle to an electric vehicle.''
The main greenhouse gas contributors in Ontario are refined petroleum, primarily used for transportation; natural gas, which is used to heat our homes and buildings; and the energy processes involved in industry, particularly the steel, cement and chemical industries.
Electrification is what Canada needs to achieve its goal to be net zero by 2050. With electrification, it''s expected that twice as much electricity will be required by 2050 compared to today. To meet that demand, Canada''s electricity generation capacity will need to double or triple, and our fleet of renewable energy generation will need to increase ten-fold.
But there''s another deadline looming. Based on guidance from the International Energy Agency, the government has committed that all of Canada''s electricity generation will be net zero by 2035.
In its report "Powering Canada''s Journey to Net Zero," the Canadian Renewable Energy Association has issued a wake-up call for governments, utilities, regulators, electricity system operators and the renewable energy industry. The message? Get Canada started on the path to meeting its commitment to net zero right now.
"Looking at the 2035 target, it makes a big difference if we''re steadily reducing our emissions before 2050," says Robert Hornung, President and CEO from the Canadian Renewable Energy Association. "The importance of electrification, in terms of moving to net zero, is that the sooner we have a clean decarbonized electricity grid, the sooner we can benefit from the actions taken to electrify transportation or to electrify buildings, and we can maximize the emission reductions associated with that."
Thankfully, Canada already has one of the lowest-emitting electricity systems in the world. More than 80 per cent of the electricity generated across Canada comes from sources completely free of greenhouse gas emissions. Ontario''s electricity sector is one of the cleanest in the country, producing 94 per cent of electricity from non-emitting sources. This is in large part due to an earlier concerted effort to phase out the province''s coal plants between 2003 and 2014 (a reduction of 31 megatonnes alone) and investments in renewable energy projects.
"There have been many studies that look at the pathways to get to net zero, and those studies recommend that you have to first and foremost decarbonize electricity production completely," says Hornung. "Those studies consistently show that the majority of that new electricity is going to come from wind and solar because they are the lowest cost options for new electricity production in our world today."
The Canadian Climate Institute agrees. In its report, Bigger, Cleaner, Smarter: Pathways for Aligning Canadian Electricity Systems with Net Zero, the Institute states that "in pursuit of net zero, the share of variable renewable energy in electricity supply will have to increase in every region of Canada, placing it among the most important safe bets for transforming electricity systems. This prominent role stems from the fact that the cost of variable renewable energy - in particular solar photovoltaic and wind power - continues to rapidly decline. From 2010 to 2019 the average cost of solar photovoltaic declined globally by 82 per cent, while the costs of on-shore and off-shore wind declined by 40 per cent and 29 per cent respectively."
Canada is one of the world''s largest producers of wind and solar energy. At the end of 2021, Canada had approximately 14,304 megawatts (MW) of installed wind energy capacity and 2,399 MW of major solar energy capacity.
Hornung says the Canadian Renewable Energy Association has crunched the numbers on what it would entail to achieve the 2050 net-zero target: "Every year for the next 30 years we''ll have to build wind and solar out at a rate that''s eight times faster than the average rate we''ve been building them the last five years. That''s why we need to mobilize quickly. In Canada, we have massive, untapped wind and solar energy resources in every region of the country to achieve this. It''s doable."
Ensuring grid reliability with variable energy sources
Unimaginable back in 1902 when the provincial electricity grid was still a dream, today''s grid is evolving to become smarter and more flexible to accommodate variable renewable generation supply like solar and wind.
"Energy storage and other smart grid technologies will allow us to adopt more wind and solar into the provincial supply mix and still ensure the reliability of the electricity grid," Hornung says. "Every province has a unique electricity grid, unique set of electricity generation, and a unique set of options for future electricity generation. So the pathway to get to net zero is going to differ from province to province. If provinces do more to interconnect their electricity grids, it will provide even more options to move towards net zero. And generally, more options means more flexibility and ways to reduce cost."
Asked what''s exciting him about the renewable energy industry right now, he says "The potential is enormous. I think these technologies will be the core and the heart of the new electricity system going forward. In our report we conclude by saying that the time to act is now and that we need to act together. We''ve got all the reasons in the world to succeed and meet that challenge. And we need to get started yesterday."
About Ottawa renewable electricity
As the photovoltaic (PV) industry continues to evolve, advancements in Ottawa renewable electricity have become critical to optimizing the utilization of renewable energy sources. From innovative battery technologies to intelligent energy management systems, these solutions are transforming the way we store and distribute solar-generated electricity.
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