POWER March 2011 - 42

POWER IN CANADA
Transmission and Distribution in
Canada
Like its neighbor to the south, Canada faces enormous costs to upgrade and
expand its transmission and distribution system. The desire to integrate
more renewable power into the grid, build a smarter grid, and export more
power are providing the rationale for action, but capital and political will
lag behind.
By Tom Willatt and Sharon Saylor, Global Business Reports
O
ne of the great challenges facing any
electrical system is the constant need
for decisions regarding the transmission
and distribution of power. Canada's
high-voltage network consists of more than
160,000 kilometers of high-voltage lines.
Beyond maintaining the aging facilities, operators
are tasked with integrating more intermittent
generation from renewable sources
and incorporating smarter grid systems.
Like generation decisions, decisions about
transmission are mostly made at a provincial
level. Federal powers only intervene when
international interconnection is involved
and in certain intra-provincial matters. But it
seems that across the country there is a need
for upgrades. " There are cycles of activity in
the renewal of transmission and distribution
networks. We are coming to the stage of the
cycle where large parts of the system need
to be renewed. Power and transmission grids
will be a good market for the next five to 10
years, " predicts Franck Willier, managing director,
Cicame Energie Inc. Cicame is part of
Sicame, which purchased Alcan Accessories
in 2000 and has since built up a broad service
offering of equipment for utilities. " New
technology can increase efficiency and take
better decisions on the network, all the way
up to decisions on new generation or transmission, "
Willier continues.
Canada has three power grids: the Western
grid, the Eastern grid, and the Québec grid,
which includes Atlantic Canada. More than
from east to west, the grid is designed to allow
for a flow of power down to the U.S. " If
you look at a map where the transmission
lines are shown, you'll see that most of them
go north-south. It's the way that it developed, "
explains Pierre Guimond, president of
the Canadian Energy Association. " We never
really sold electricity east-west, because
there were no customers, as the provinces
were self-sufficient. Since the California
market exploded in the mid-1990s, we've re42
1.
Cross-border transmission. This aerial view of the static inverter plant at Sandy Pond
in Ayer, Mass., is part of the long-distance high-voltage direct current Québec-New England transmission
line that links Québec hydro power and New England load centers. Courtesy: ABB
ally had a lot of commerce in electricity with
the United States. "
This integrated grid means that Canada is
a major supplier of power to the New England
states, New York, and California, as well
as to states in the Upper Midwest and the
Pacific Northwest (Figure 1). Some Canadian
players are now looking for longer-term
contracts on their U.S. exports so that they
can be leveraged toward further grid development.
" B.C. has an abundance of renewable
possibilities, but in order to exploit this
potential we must find a market, " says Bev
Van Ruyven, deputy CEO and executive vice
president of BC Hydro, the dominant electrical
utility of British Columbia. " If we can
lock in long-term contracts of 20 to 30 years,
this will allow us to invest further in transmission
and perhaps even invest in a green
corridor to reach those U.S. markets. "
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Connecting Renewables
" One thing that often gets forgotten is that
if you are a big supporter of renewable energy,
you also have to be a big supporter of
increased transmission. It is easier to build
generation that has a small, defined footprint
than to build a transmission line that covers
hundreds of miles, " insists Paul Murphy,
CEO of the Independent Electricity System
Operator (IESO), which was created to independently
and reliably oversee the transmission
system, administer the wholesale
electricity market, and manage the import
and export trade in Ontario.
Dealing with variable generation facilities
is something relatively new to the industry.
" Integrating renewables into the system and
the market is the biggest challenge. Maintaining
reliability is at the core of our reason
for being. Maintaining reliability in a sector
POWER | March 2011

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POWER March 2011

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