Smart Grid In Canada - Ressources Naturelles Canada

International collaboration on smart gridCanada continued to actively participate in the InternationalSmart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) in 2012-2013. As one of24 member countries, Canada played a lead role inproducing the following publications and events: Case book: “Spotlight on Advanced MeteringInfrastructure: AMI Case Book Version 1.0” 6; International webinar entitled “Unlocking Marketsand Supporting Innovation in Smart Grids”7.The AMI Case Book was presented to the 4th CleanEnergy Ministerial held in April 2013 in India. It includes6 cases of country experience with advanced meteringinfrastructure (AMI), the first of which features Ontario’sAMI deployment. The cases describe the AMI project,identify its objectives, key elements of design, resultsmeasured thus far and lessons learned. Key findings fromthe report were discussed under a number of headingsincluding customer engagement, mandatory versus opt-outsmart meter roll-outs, combining pricing plans with AMI,privacy and cyber security, big data, and the business casefor AMI. The report reveals that many jurisdictions aroundthe world are still considering AMI or are in the early stagesof AMI deployment.Many consider it a platform for further smartgrid capabilities, while some do not consider ita necessary technology. Of the 21 countries thatresponded, 13 were engaged in some level ofdeployment of AMI, with the remaining countriesconducting pilots in AMI technologies to determinetheir inclusion in smart grid deployment. NRCanserved as the lead author and editor for the CaseBook, which is available on the ISGAN website.The Ontario Ministry of Energy organized the“Unlocking Markets and Supporting Innovationfor Smart Grid” webinar, hosted by the CleanEnergy Solutions Center. Ontario’s presentationwas complemented by the perspectives of theIndia Smart Grid Forum, operating in an emergingmarket, and by Siemens Canada as a multinationalindustry player in smart grid. The webinar exploredpolicy drivers, the dynamics between players,and different approaches to enabling utilitiesand industry to innovate in the way that theyimplement smart grid and develop new smart gridtechnologies. The slides and a recording of thewebinar can be found online on the Clean EnergySolutions Center website.Exporting Canadian smart grid technology and expertiseCanada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade andDevelopment (DFATD) has identified smart grid as asector with key potential for Canadian export, tradeand international collaboration. In the past year, severalactivities have organized a Smart Grid Mission to Europe,and hosting other delegations from Central and SouthAmerica.67The mission to Europe in November 2012 broughta delegation of select Canadian industry andacademia representatives to five leading Europeancenters in smart grid research and development.Canadian companies were able to identifyopportunities in the European marketplace alongwith some immediate opportunities for follow-upconversation.ISGAN, Spotlight on Advanced Metering Infrastructure: AMI Case Book Version 1.0, 2013: http://www.iea-isgan.org/?r home&m upload&a download&uid 1344ISGAN, Unlocking Markets and Supporting Innovation in Smart Grids webinar, retrieved September 2013: inar11

Canadian technologies in energy ns and communications seem to holdgreat potential for further developments inthe European market. Similarly, Canadianresearchers conducted insightful discussionsExporting Canadian smart grid technology andexpertise with their European counterparts,opening the door to highly desirable collaborativeresearch, technology partnership and exchange of knowhow and resources in this critical field of research forCanada. As a follow-up to this mission, a delegationcomprised of multi-national enterprises and small andmedium enterprises in the power sector from France,Italy and the UK are visiting Canada in 2013 to forge newagreements for cooperation with potential Canadiancompanies in the field of smart grid.Provincial and territorial support for smart gridCanada is advancing in areas of smart griddevelopment such as load management,data management and advanced meteringinfrastructure. Leadership in these fields is exhibitedin large part by its provinces and territories. Smartgrid development continued as a policy andprograms initiative in a number of provinces andterritories during 2012-2013. While each provinceand territory’s approach to smart grid differsaccording to its assets and needs, a balanceof economic development and energy andenvironmental policy drivers can be found in theprovinces most active in smart grid development.A selection of highlights from the provinces andterritories are included here.ONTARIO:Supportingnewtechnologydevelopment, Ontario continued funding for smartgrid projects, investigated the development ofa Clean Energy Institute, provided funding for aSmart Energy Centre of Excellence in northernclimates, and launched the Green Button program. In July 2013 the Ministry of Energy announcedthat its Smart Grid Fund will accept asecond round of project proposals for precommercialization demonstrations and capacitydevelopment projects8. In this second round,private companies, colleges, universitiesand non-governmental organizations can beaccepted as project proponents and utilities can receivefunding to support their participation in the project. During the last year, Ontario has been investigatingthe potential of a Clean Energy Institute, posed in June2012, to serve as a catalyst for energy sectorcollaboration. MaRS, the Ontario Ministry of Energyand the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade andEmployment who are driving that process are nearingthe end of the review period. The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporationannounced funding for a Smart Energy Centre ofExcellence9 in Sault Ste. Marie. It will focus on advancedenergy generation and energy management projectswith community benefit, developing new smart gridtechnology and regional investment vehicles. TheCenter also plans to host an international smart energyconference for smaller cities. Ontario is the first jurisdiction outside of the US to launcha Green Button10 program. It is working in collaborationwith local distribution companies and partners inthe US to employ standards and best practices for allcustomers to securely and easily access their energydata. The Green Button initiative is discussed in greaterdetail later in this report.Ontario Ministry of Energy, Smart Grid Fund, retrieved September 2013: lt Ste Marie Innovation Centre, Smart Energy Centre of Excellence: http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c 5820310Ontario Green Button Initiative: http://greenbuttondata.ca8912Smart Grid in Canada 2012-2013

In part to address the role of local distribution companies inthe development of smart grid and smart grid technologies,the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) released two reports inthe last year. These reports are in response to Ontario’sDirective11 to the OEB to promote smart grid developmentin the province. The first was a Supplemental Report onSmart Grid12, which provided further guidance for smartgrid plans to be developed by local distribution companies,and introduced a scorecard approach to measuringperformance. Five months later, the Ontario EnergyBoard released its Staff Report to t he Board onPerformanceMeasurement and Continuous Improvementfor Electricity Distributors13. The report presents aproposed scorecard for measuring performance that isintended to provide more performance-based regulationthrough eight new customer-centric measures.A timeline of these and other smart grid events in Ontario ispresented in the Ontario Smart Grid Forum’s recent “OntarioSmart Grid Progress Assessment: A Vignette”14, along withinsights and recommendations for the coming years.NOVA SCOTIA: Integrating distributed and renewablegeneration is a major driver for smart grid in Nova Scotia.Nova Scotia has set a target for 25% of its energy to besupplied by renewable energy by 2015, increasing to 40%by 2020. With over 320 MW of wind already installed, theprovince experienced 37.5% of its total energy generationfrom wind in September 2012. Smart grid initiatives such asopt-in Time-of-Day rates and storage technologiesare being explored for their role in enabling Visiongreater customer control over their energy useand supporting high penetrations of renewablegeneration on their ipinternationally with public programs, pilot markets,and regulatory reform intended to result in benefitsin the province’s energy, environment andeconomy through smart grid. In the last year, thegovernment recognized storage technologies asa technology area with significant potential forsystem and economic benefit. It posted a requestfor information on issues related to integratingstorage into the system and how to capture thevalue of the diffuse benefits that storage offers.In December 2012, the Independent ElectricitySystem Operator (IESO) of Ontario procured 10 MWof regulation capacity in a pilot to test the abilityof alternative sources of stored energy to provideregulation and other services to the grid. Through acompetitive process, three vendors were selectedto provide regulation services from lithium-ionbatteries (RES Canada), fly wheels (NRStor, TemporalPower) and commercial load management(ENBALA). The pilot represents an importantstep in leveling the playing field for grid services.Our 10-Year VisionSustainable Electrictiy(reliability & low/stable rates)Leader(more effective,more productive)Reduce and shiftdemandReduce debt by 1 BillionSmart Grid(Siemens)10-Year Vision for New Brunswick Power11121314Ontario Ministry of Energy, Smart Grid Directive to the OEB, 2010:http://www.ontarioenergyboard.ca/OEB/ Documents/Documents/Minister directive smart grid 20101123.pdfOEB, Supplemental Report on Smart Grid, 2013: http://www.ontarioenergyboard.ca/OEB/ Documents/EB-2011-0004/SupplementalReport on Smart Grid 20130211.pdfOEB, Report to the Board on performance measurement, 2013: t%20to%20the%20Board 20130704.PDFOntario Smart Grid Forum, Ontario Smart Grid Progress Assessment: A Vignette, 2013: http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/pubs/smart grid/Smart Grid Progress Assessment Vignette.pdf13

British Columbia completed the roll-out of BCHydro’s smart meter program in 2012. In 2013, theprovincial regulator approved FortisBC’s applicationto roll-out smart meters in its jurisdiction, withthe direction that the utility provide an opt-outprovision for customers who do not accept thesmart meters offered.NEW-BRUNSWICK: New Brunswick released its“Clean Electricity Act” on May 7, 2013. It providesfurther guidance on electricity in New Brunswick,including the reintegration of many divisions of NewBrunswick Power. This vertically integrated utilityhas adopted a 10-year plan to provide sustainableelectricity to maintain reliability and low electricityprices. The strategy identified the reduction and shift.in consumption as one of three pillars of businessdevelopment over the next 10 years. The visionwill be implemented in collaboration with Siemensthrough its Smart Grid Compass methodology and thenewly opened Smart Grid Center of Competence inFredericton. Under this strategy, the province shouldbe able to reduce the need for additional networkcapacity by implementing smart grid technologiesand systems.ALBERTA: Action in Alberta for 2012-2013 focusedprimarily on smart grid technologies that help integrateintermittent renewables. Action spanned all levels of theelectric industry, including investor owned utilities, theAlberta Electric System Operator (AESO), TransmissionFacility Owners (TFOs), the Climate Change EmissionsManagement Corporation (CCEMC), and Alberta Energy. As of September 2013, five investor-owned utilitieshad announced energy storage project proposals.Lancaster Wind Systems Inc. proposed a compressednitrogen hydraulic energy storage system andreceived 500,000 in funding from the CCEMC15.AltaLink Investment Limited Partnership (AltaLink)announced a 14 MW lithiumion battery storageproject16 and entered the AESO connection queue17.Suncor Energy Products Inc. (Suncor) announced abattery storage demonstration pilot for its WinteringHills wind power project and also entered the AESOconnection queue. Enbridge Inc. continued todevelop a power-to gas electricity storage concept18.The CCEMC invited AltaLink, Suncor, andEnbridge to submit full proposals forfurtherfunding consideration19. Finally, Rocky MountainPower continued developing a proposal for theSaskatchewan Alberta Tie Line, which would deploycompressed air energy storage and serve as a virtualinterti20.Lancaster Wind Systems Inc., Hydraulic energy storage project, retrieved September 2013: n-pilot-project/16CCEMC, 2012 Renewable Energy shortlisted Projects, retrieved September 2013: le-Energy-Website-Project-Descriptions.pdf17AESO, Project list, retrieved September 2013: http://www.aeso.ca/downloads/Final-September 2013 Project List.xls18CCEMC, 2012 Renewable Energy shortlisted Projects19Ibid.20Saskatchewan-Alberta Tie Line Project: http://www.satl.ca/1514Smart Grid in Canada 2012-2013

In anticipation of connection requests from theabove proposals, the AESO released an EnergyStorage Initiative Issue Identification paper inJune 201321. The AESO has since formed an EnergyStorage Work Group to identify solutions for energystorage integration and market participation22. Aforthcoming discussion paper will prioritize issuesand propose possible solutions in late 2013. Alberta TFOs continued construction of transmissionprojects that deploy smart grid technologies. AltaLinkis constructing the Southern Alberta TransmissionReinforcement project, which will deploy FlexibleAlternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS)and provide capacity to integrate an additional2,700 MW of wind. AltaLink is also constructingthe Western Alberta Transmission Line and ATCO isconstructing the Eastern AlbertaTransmission Line,both of which are 500 kV High Voltage Direct Current(HVDC) lines. These HVDC lines will improve controlof power flows and help integrate intermittentrenewables. Alberta Energy provided grant funding forAlberta Innovates Technology Futures tostudy the feasibility of different energystorage technologies and integration models.Alberta Energy also continued to developan Alter native and Renewable EnergyPolicy Framework (the Framework) for theGovernment of Alberta. The Frameworkwill identify strategic opportunities tofurther enable development and use ofalternative and renewable energy resourcesand technologies in Alberta. Alberta Energyanticipates public release of the Frameworkin 2014.Combined, these actions throughout the Albertaelectric industry provide promising indications forincreased integration and market participation ofintermittent renewables.Additional details on provincial programs andactivities are provided in the Smart Grid TechnologyThrusts section of this report.Industry collaboration in smart gridIndustry associations and networks are playing animportant role in supporting the development of smart gridtechnologies,markets and policies in Canada.SmartGrid CanadaAt its annual conference, SmartGrid Canada releasedthe results of its smart grid consumer study. It profiledelectricity consumer awareness of smart grid and relatedissues across Canada and revealed that Canadians aregenerally open to the concept of smart grid and smarthomes23. This study is being repeated in 2013 and will bepresented at the annual conference.212223SmartGrid Canada is an industry associationcommitted to promoting the Canadian smart gridna

Smart Grid in Canada 2012-2013 Edited by: Jennifer Hiscock and David Beauvais This report provides a summary of smart grid development progress in Canada during. 2012-2013. It is written for industry, government and research stakeholders of smart grid . RP-ANU 411-SGPLAN, Natural Resources Canada, October 2013, 43 pp. This report is available .