power utilities forced to adapt as climate change brings wilder weather - electrical energy storage systems

Climate change scientists say the increasing intensity of storms leading to massive power outages highlights the need for Canadian power companies to strengthen and innovate.
Louise Como, a climate change scientist at the University of New Brunswick, said in a recent interview: "In the face of the increasing possibilities of these events, we need to plan more resilient . ".
This week, the East Coast suffered its third storm in a few days, with strong winds falling down trees and even part of the Halifax spires.
Nova Scotia Electric said it has spent nine storm days so far this year --
Four rises from the same period last year.
Major weather has continued to expand over the past five years, according to the Canadian Electricity AssociationCEA)
Such incidents have been tracked since 2003.
Total blackout time in the country in the last quarter of 201622 per cent —
It was caused by two ice storms, a lightning storm, and the Fort McMurray fire, which the CEA says may or may not be classified as climate events.
More power outages "It [climate change]
Devin McCarthy said: "This puts considerable pressure on power companies to improve their processes from coast to coast and find ways to strengthen their system Public Affairs and the vice president of the United StatesS.
CEA's policy represents 40 utilities that serve 14 million customers.
The analysis "we are not ready": what experts think about climate change, and the next big storm climate change expertise that Canadian boards lack, reported McCarthy said, power companies can't just build their systems to withstand the worst storms in the last 30 years.
They must be prepared for worse.
"There needs to be a more forward-looking approach, dominated by climate science, to see what challenges we expect our system to face in the next 20, 30 or 50 years," he said.
Elias Lyberogiannis, general manager of utilities Engineering, said in an email that planning for worse weather Toronto Hydro is either considering or installing equipment that takes into account extreme weather.
This includes a more corrosion-resistant stainless steel transformer and a disconnect from the overhead service connection, which allows the service line to be safely disconnected from the pole and prevents damage to the service mast.
Another good idea: Micro
Grid to spread risk.
Smaller power grids related to power systems operated by large utilities typically use renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power and battery storage technology to power buildings, homes, schools and hospitals, Comeau said
"The ability to do this means that we are no longer so vulnerable when the central system crashes," Comeau said . ".
Trying to back up powerNova Scotia Power recently announced a "smart feeder" pilot project that includes the installation of Tesla Powerwall batteries in 10 homes in Elmsdale, NYS.
A big grid
The battery size of the local substation.
The battery is partially connected to a wire by a nearby wind turbine.
The idea is to test the ability to provide backup power to customers while collecting data that will be useful for planning future energy needs.
Tony O'Hara, deputy to NB Power
The president of the project said the utility was in the late planning phase of a micro-enterprise
The power grid in the western part of the province is also studying the use of large battery repositories.
"These things are coming, and this will certainly evolve over time," O'Hara said . ".
"The primary reason for the power outage during the storm is that the trees are in contact with the wires, especially in strong winds and heavy snow . "S.
Power's Tiffany Chase
The company's annual budget for tree pruning and removal is $20 million.
"But the reality is that in terms of overhead infrastructure, no matter how strong the infrastructure is, trees can cause damage," said Matt Drover, regional operations director of utilities.
"We are working on battery storage and a variety of other reliability projects to help solve this problem.
"NB Power is also paying more and more attention to pruning and removing trees, and now spends $14 million a year on trimming and removing trees, up from $6 million before 2014.
The burial line of the city area, O'Hara, says the vegetation plan has helped reduce the average duration of power outages from about 3 hours to 2 hours and 45 minutes since 2014.
Both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have some power cables buried, mainly in urban areas.
But both utilities think it's too expensive to bury the whole system.
Nova Scotia Electric is estimated at $1 million per kilometer.
After 2013 ice storms in Toronto, the issue of burying more lines became a top priority, but it was also the idea that the city's utilities had rejected large lines
The underground system is too expensive.
The estimated cost is approximately $15 billion.
Reducing risk can save money and disrupt people's lives, says Comeau.
"We can't do that as before," said Zhang Xuebin, a senior climate change scientist in Canada on environment and climate change.
How is the Acadia Peninsula prepared for the next big storm?