Renewable of Power Generation

Renewable power generation is one of the most important subjects in today's electricity production industy and in the future will dominate the agenda to remove power generation from the use of fossil fuels
Of all the energy currently consumed in Canada, about 3,700 PJ (46%) is used to generate electricity. Canada has approximately 112 GW of installed electricity generation capacity, and produces approximately 561,805 GWh of electricity annually11 , resulting in a $27 B/yr business12 . Most electricity generation, transmission and distribution have traditionally been handled by vertically integrated provincial monopolies. This resulted in the construction of large-scale centralized power generation facilities and massive transmission systems owned by the same generator. The market is currently evolving under new deregulation guidelines.

There are currently five main sources of power generation in Canada: natural gas, oil, coal, hydro (larger systems), and nuclear. The smallest component is from "other" sources (<2%), which includes renewable power generation. The National Energy Board estimates that "other" renewable power generation sources will reach 5.5 GW of installed capacity under the Business As Usual scenario, or 16.1 GW under the Techno-Vert scenario13, by the year 2025.Projection figures vary considerably throughout the industry and among government departments and jurisdictions,but are sufficient to provide a range from which to make some reasonable assessments.
Renewable Power Generation

Each sub-sector is examined for its potential to produce electricity and displace conventional fossil fuel electricity generation. Some of the fuels may have other - or even better - applications involving renewable power generation.

• Wind generated electricity
• Solar PV generated electricity
• Stationary Fuel Cell generated electricity
• Electricity generated from biological sources
• Wind Power: Wind is  becoming the dominant non-hydroelectric renewable energy form of power generation in Canada. The wind industry has benefited from many years of investment and technology improvement from European countries. As a result,some wind installations in Canada are now cost-competitive with (and even less expensive than) conventional electricity generation-even without the Wind Power Purchase Incentive (WPPI) program. The abundance of rural property in Canada with suitable wind regimes means there are many locations that can support electricity production. The current focus of the wind industry is on getting wind turbines up and running as soon as possible. 

• Solar PV Power: Solar energy is traditionally classified in three ways:Photovoltaics (solar electricity,or PV),Solar Thermal (heat) and Passive Solar (displacing the need for active heating or cooling). Most residential, commercial and industrial buildings require both electricity and heat (hot water,space heat,etc.). At this time,this report only focuses on Solar PV. If required,a full treatment of solar thermal (or the combined use of PV and solar thermal) may be conducted in a future analysis. 

• Bio-electricity Power: Biofuels (from which electricity is derived) encompasses all forms of energy derived from bio-based origins. This Report focuses on two of the four types of electricity generation from bioenergy sources; notably bio oil and bio gas (see below). Also note that bio oil can be converted to electricity in means other than the example shown below (boiler combustion is used as a representative example of the process). In general, the bio-electricity process involves feedstock collection (harvesting, preparation, transportation), fuel production (i.e. solid, liquid, or gas), and electricity generation (from fuel to electricity). A more detailed treatment of bio-based fuels is provided in the Renewable Fuels Investment Report. This Report focuses on the technology areas that address the process of converting the selected renewable fuels into electricity.
• Stationary Fuel Cell Power (Hydrogen): Hydrogen as a fuel source opens up a broad application area-from alternative fuels in trans portation (hydrogen/methane fuel for internal combustion engines, hydrogen fuel cells for electric automobiles, etc.), to electricity generation using hydrogen fuel cells.While the application area for hydrogen is large,the specific focus of this report is on the use of hydrogen fuel cells for the generation of grid-based electricity. Other important application areas will be treated in subsequent SDTC Roadmap reports.

Solid Biomass combustion is the most prominent form of biomass use in Canada. Biomass co-generation is already used widely in the pulp and paper industry for power, space and process heating. It is an established technology which needs improvement, but has not been a strong focus of biotechnology research and development.
The top five near-term investment opportunities for renewable power generation include:

• Expanded Feedstock for Bio-electricity - To be successful, electrical generation (fuel conversion) equipment must be able to use a wider range of biomass feedstocks beyond the high quality sources that are currently used. Further, new logistics (collection, harvesting, refining) and conversion processes must be developed to supply a steady and reliable source of these additional raw materials for the emerging biofuel processes and bio-electricity facilities. Examples include technologies that go beyond corn-based ethanol8 and white-wood based pyrolysis.
• Wind Power Grid Integration Hardware - Connecting wind farms to the grid in a standardized,cost effective, and reliable way involves both new technology solutions and policy development. While grid connection is largely a policy issue, there are emerging technologies that can increase wind system power quality and reliability, which will help them gain acceptance among utilities.
• Liquid Biomass ( "Bio Oil") Plant Scale-Up - Demonstrations are required to validate the technical and economic viability of bio-processing plants as they scale from prototype to commercial sizes. For example, the wood pyrolysis process has progressed to the point of full scale-up, and needs to demonstrate its value based on the suite of products and co-products that are derived.
• Large Wind Turbine Component Scale-up - The wind turbine industry requires larger turbines to achieve economies of scale. However, to remain cost-competitive with conventional electricity sources, ways must be found to decrease the weight/power output ratio while increasing durability and flexibility. Investments are required in lighter, stronger and more cost-effective components, as well as fundamentally new designs.
• Solar PV Building Integration - Similar to wind, solar PV systems in Canada require greater access to the power grid.In the residential, commercial and industrial building markets there is the technical potential to fully integrate solar components within the structure and have it displace or otherwise reduce electricity load from current sources within the buildings. The cost of the PV systems and their integration effort also needs to be addressed; solutions in technology or policy or both may be required.