Fortune Minerals : COBALT NEWS

CBC.CA News - April 15, 2021

's $16-million WindCharger project consists of three Tesla lithium-ionbattery storage groupings, capable of holding 20 megawatt-hours (MWh)

On any given day, go for a drive in southwest Alberta and expect to hear the wind whistling through your windows as it blows across the prairie…Lethbridge is one of the windiest cities in the country so it's no wonder this region is a hotbed for the growing wind energy industry…Wayne Oliver looks after more than 400 wind turbines in the area. He's also responsible for a new battery project that could fuel the sector's growth even further…TransAlta's $16-million WindCharger project consists of three Tesla lithium-ion battery storage groupings, capable of holding 20 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity. That's enough power to fully supply the nearby town of Pincher Creek, with a population of 3,600, for about 90 minutes…The project was the first of its kind in Alberta, but less than a year later, two other storage facilities are already operating in other parts of the province, with another nine in development…'Having a way to store energy that's generated by the wind, and then having the ability to put that back into the grid ... makes renewable energy, wind energy more attractive,' said Oliver…Some are already hailing the nascent technology as game-changing for the renewable energy sector, offering intermittent wind and solar power a consistent low-carbon backup. However, at this point, the impact of storage projects to encourage more renewables, and provide other benefits, may be limited by just how much power they can hold…The knock against solar and wind farms is the unpredictability of the electricity they generate, as the wind isn't always blowing and the sun isn't always shining. Batteries can help provide the power when it's needed most…That could mean charging up during the day and distributing the power on the grid to customers in the evening when the sun is down and wind isn't as strong…Batteries can also provide instant electricity to the power grid if, for instance, a power plant elsewhere in the province has to shut down unexpectedly. That's referred to by some in the industry as providing a 'fast frequency response.'…In early-February, Alberta was stuck in a bitter cold snap and wind wasn't strong enough to move the turbines and produce much electricity for five days. The battery projects in Alberta only provide a few hours of electricity…That doesn't mean batteries couldn't deliver more power in the future. Some projects elsewhere in the world are much larger, like the 182 MW Moss Landing system in California, and experts anticipate prices will decrease as more of the facilities are built and more innovation takes place…In the meantime, pumped hydro storage projects can provide much more electricity, but would likely still fall short under certain weather conditions like those experienced in February…Still, Shaffer isn't concerned because renewables aren't heavily relied upon in the province; wind makes up about 11 per cent of electricity generation, while solar and biomass contribute about 4.5 per cent…Alberta has a goal of relying on renewables for 30 per cent of its electricity by 2030…As for storage, there are other methods such as underground pumped storage and gravity storage. Still, experts say more research is important to improve the performance and scale of the projects…'There's some great stuff in storage, but the need for storage like for Tokyo during a typhoon or for the U.S. when the Midwest is shut down, this is very daunting,' said Bill Gates, one of the founders of Microsoft and an investor in long-duration storage projects, during the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference earlier this year…As more wind and solar projects are built, he expects additional storage projects to be constructed too. In addition, large industrial companies could also invest in batteries so they have electricity available to help reduce costs when power prices spike.