Binnu Jeyakumar and Jan Gorski offer an opinion in the National Observer that creating a net-zero emissions electricity grid by 2035 in line with International Energy Agency targets is essential for Net-Zero by 2050.
Net Zero Grid
They ask how will Canada deliver this bigger, cleaner, modernized grid to electrify our vehicles, buildings, and businesses, and take advantage of the opportunity to export in-demand clean electricity to our neighbours to the south?
We need to act quickly. Asset planning, development, and turnover can take decades. If we don’t move swiftly now, we will lose windows of opportunity. There are four key pieces of the puzzle: renewable energy to provide zero-carbon electricity; energy efficiency to reduce how much electricity is needed; demand response to match when electricity is needed with its availability; and, increased storage capacity… But there is a fifth piece that is critical to bringing it all together: Canada needs more transmission lines to connect provincial grids and allow us, as a nation, to play to our strengths. Unlike the first four pieces of the net-zero grid puzzle, transmission requires interprovincial co-operation. The rewards for succeeding should not be underestimated.1
In 2019, Emily Chung of CBC News reported that the next wave of innovation are the nuclear reactors of the future that are small and modular.
Small nuclear reactors could make Alberta's oilsands cleaner, industry experts say Such reactors are considered "modular" because they're designed to work either independently or as modules in a bigger complex (as is already the case with traditional, larger reactors at most Canadian nuclear power plants.) A power plant could be expanded incrementally by adding additional modules.2
Joanne Liou of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Office of Public Information and Communication explains Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). Achieving the Net Zero electrical grid in Canada will require a great effort in power system engineering, construction and commissioning.
Today, nuclear power provides 10% of the world’s electricity. But to stem climate change, we’re going to need far greater amounts of clean and reliable energy. Thirty countries currently operate nuclear power plants. More than two dozen others are looking at nuclear energy to meet their power and climate needs. In the western United States, more than 30 towns and cities are also looking to the future. They want to go carbon free. And they’re betting on small modular reactors (SMRs) to get there.3
At this time, we urgently need to provide education and training to ensure we have the engineers, technologists, technicians, and tradespeople to get the job done on time.
References
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