Canada needs vast piles of money and an army of workers if it hopes to keep up with the demands of the nation's network of electricity systems, a new report warns.
The Conference Board of Canada, in a report issued Monday prepared for the Canadian Electricity Association, said that investments to repair, upgrade and expand the nation's power grids will boost the economy and create a "steady stream of high-paying jobs."
That will require an annual workforce of 156,000 encompassing jobs tied directly to infrastructure construction, such as electrical trades and heavy equipment operators, as well as employment for everything from judges and priests to cooks and sales clerks.
"The average contribution to real GDP - including direct, indirect and induced impacts - will be $10.9 billion per year," The report said.
However, the report notes that the biggest wave of construction began in 2011 with an average annual GDP contribution of $22.7 billion.
The report said BC Hydro's biggest outlay will be for investments to expand largescale hydroelectric power generation - on Monday, Premier Christy Clark announced that the province has taken another step toward development of the Site C hydro mega-project on the Peace River.
Alberta's principal focus is on new natural gas generation. Ontario is following the same path, replacing aging coal-fired generation stations with natural gas-fired stations.
Quebec and Manitoba, like B.C., will focus on new hydro projects.
Pedro Antunes, director of national and provincial forecast for the conference board, said the biggest challenges will be avail-ability of skilled workers to carry projects through, and the ability of governments and utilities to minimize impacts upon taxpayers who are also facing cost for other necessary upgrades to infrastructure including roads, bridges and municipal utilities including drinking water and waste water treatment.
"We're worried, not so much about whether industry will be able to meet demand [for electricity], but in terms of the supply of workers - in the construction industry in particular," Antunes said.
"There is going to be a lot of demand for construction workers not only for this but also for the [oil] sector, the mining sec-tor. We are seeing more pressure around the labour market issue. There is this issue I think governments are struggling with, which is how to fund infrastructure, how to balance their budgets and keep the infrastructure spending going because I think there is an understanding that there's a need to keep it up."
Jim Burpee, president and CEO of the Canadian Electricity Association, said the $347 billion estimate reflects the need to undertake both new projects and replacement of old assets.
"It's not just load growth like it was during, I guess I'd call it the industrial age of the '60s and '70s - factories were growing, the country was growing rapidly, and there was a lot of generation and transmission built to supply that," Burpee said.
"That infrastructure is aging now and a lot of items have relatively finite lives where the reliability suffers, their economics suffer and they need to be replaced.
"I think one of our issues from a public perspective is people's expectation of price and service. They think they can always get the same high level of service. If you look at the North American system it's extremely reliable. But you can't always expect the price to remain flat or go down. We're not like Walmart where we can roll back prices."
BC Hydro Crypto Mining Moratorium pauses high-load connection requests, as BCUC reviews electricity demand, gigawatt-hours and megawatt load forecasts, data center growth, and potential rate impacts on the power grid and industrial customers.
Key Points
A BC order pausing crypto mining connections while BC Hydro and BCUC assess load, grid impacts, and ratepayer risks.
✅ 18-month pause on new high-load crypto connections
✅ 1,403 MW in requests suspended; 273 MW existing or pending
✅ Seeks to manage demand, rates, and grid reliability
In its Nov. 1, 2022 load update briefing note to senior executives of the Crown corporation, BC Hydro shows that the entire large industrial sector accounted for 6,591 gigawatt-hours during the period – one percent less than forecast in the service plan.
BC Hydro censored load statistics about crypto mining, coal mining and chemicals from the briefing note, which was obtained under the freedom of information law and came amid scrutiny over B.C. electricity imports because it feared that disclosure would harm Crown corporation finances and third-party business interests.
Crypto mining requires high-powered computers to run and be cooled around the clock constantly. So much so that cabinet ordered the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) last December to place an 18-month moratorium on crypto mining connection requests, while other jurisdictions, such as the N.B. Power crypto review, undertook similar pauses to assess impacts.
In a news release, the government said 21 projects seeking 1,403 megawatts were temporarily suspended. The government said that would be enough to power 570,000 homes or 2.1 million electric vehicles for a year.
A report issued by BC Hydro before Christmas said there were already 166 megawatts of power from operational projects at seven sites. Another six projects with 107 megawatts were nearing connection, bringing its total load to 273 megawatts.
Richard McCandless, a retired assistant deputy minister who analyzes the performance of BC Hydro and the Insurance Corp of British Columbia, said China's May 2021 ban on crypto mining had a major ripple effect on those seeking cheap and reliable power.
"When China cracked down, these guys fled to different areas," McCandless said in an interview. "So they took their computers and went somewhere else. Some wound up in B.C."
He said BC Hydro's secrecy about crypto loads appears rooted in the Crown corporation underestimating load demand, even as new generating stations were commissioned to bolster capacity.
"Crypto is up so dramatically; they didn't want to show that," McCandless said. "Maybe they didn't want to be seen as being asleep at the switch."
Indeed, BCUC's April 21 decision on BC Hydro's 2021 revenue forecasts through the 2025 fiscal year included BC Hydro's forecast increase for crypto and data centres of about 100 gigawatt-hours through fiscal 2024 before returning to 2021 levels by 2025. In addition, the BCUC document said that BC Hydro's December 2020 load forecast was lower than the previous one because of project cancellations and updated load requests, amid ongoing nuclear power debate in B.C.
"Given the segment's continued uncertainty and volatility, the forecast assumes these facilities are not long-lived," the BC Hydro application said.
A September 2022 report to the White House titled "Crypto-Assets in the United States" said increased electricity demand from crypto-asset mining could lead to rate increases.
"Crypto-asset mining in upstate New York increased annual household electric bills by [US]$82 and annual small business electric bills by [US]$164, with total net losses from local consumers and businesses estimated to be [US]$179 million from 2016-2018," the report said. The information mentioned Plattsburgh, New York's 18-month moratorium in 2018. Manitoba announced a similar suspension almost a month before B.C.
B.C.'s total core domestic load of 23,666 gigawatt-hours was two percent higher than the service plan amid BC Hydro call for power planning, with commercial and light industrial (9,198 gigawatt-hours) and residential (7,877 gigawatt-hours) being the top two customer segments.
"A cooler spring and warmer summer supported increased loads, as the Western Canada drought strained hydropower production regionally. However, warmer daytime temperatures in September impacted heating more than cooling," said the briefing note.
"Commercial and light industrial consumption benefited from warmer temperatures in August but has also been impacted to a lesser degree by the reduced heating load in the first three weeks of October."
Loads improved relative to 2021, but offices, retail businesses and restaurants remained below pre-pandemic levels. Education, recreation and hotel sectors were in line with pre-pandemic levels. Light industrial sector growth offset the declines.
For heavy industry, pulp and paper electricity use was 15 percent ahead of forecast, but wood manufacturing was 16 percent below forecast. The briefing note said oil and gas grew nine percent relative to the previous year but, alongside ongoing LNG power demand, fell nine percent below the service plan.
Vancouver Formula E 2022 delivers an all-electric, net-zero motorsport event in False Creek, featuring sustainability initiatives, clean mobility showcases, concerts, and tourism boosts, with major economic impact, jobs, and a climate action conference.
Key Points
A net-zero, all-electric race in False Creek, uniting EV motorsport with sustainability, concerts, and local jobs.
✅ Net-zero, all-electric FIA championship round in Canada
✅ False Creek street circuit with concerts and green mobility expo
✅ Projected $80M impact and thousands of local jobs
The City of Vancouver is hosting an ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race next year, organizers have announced, aligning with the city's EV-ready policy to accelerate adoption.
The all-electric race is being held in the city's False Creek neighbourhood over the 2022 July long weekend as green energy investments accelerate nationwide, according to promoter OSS Group Inc.
Earlier this year, Vancouver city council voted unanimously in support of a multi-day Formula E event that would include a conference on climate change and sustainability amid predicted EV-demand bottlenecks in B.C.
"Formula E is a win on so many levels, from being a net-zero event that supports sustainable transportation to being a huge boost for our hard-hit tourism sector, our residents, who can access rebates for home and workplace charging, and our local economy," Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said in a news release Thursday.
The promoter said the Formula E race will bring $80 million in economic value and thousands of jobs to the city, with infrastructure like new EV chargers at YVR also underway, but did not provide any details on how it came to those estimates.
More details on the events surrounding the race, including planned concerts and other EV showcases like Everything Electric, are expected to be announced in the fall.
The last time a Formula E World Championship event came to Canada was the Montreal ePrix in 2017. Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante later cancelled planned Formula E events for 2018 and 2019, citing cost overruns and sponsorship troubles.
Great Britain electricity generation spans renewables and baseload: wind, solar, nuclear, gas, and biomass, supported by National Grid interconnectors, embedded energy estimates, and BMRS data for dynamic imports and exports across Europe.
Key Points
A diverse, weather-driven mix of renewables, gas, nuclear, and imports coordinated by National Grid.
✅ Baseload from nuclear and biomass; intermittent wind and solar
✅ Interconnectors trade zero carbon imports via subsea cables
✅ Data from BMRS and ESO covers embedded energy estimates
Great Britain has one of the most diverse ranges of electricity generation in Europe, with everything from windfarms off the coast of Scotland to a nuclear power station in Suffolk tasked with keeping the lights on. The increasing reliance on renewable energy sources, as part of the country’s green ambitions, also means there can be rapid shifts in the main source of electricity generation. On windy days, most electricity generation comes from record wind generation across onshore and offshore windfarms. When conditions are cold and still, gas-fired power stations known as peaking plants are called into action.
The electricity system in Great Britain relies on a combination of “baseload” power – from stable generators such as nuclear and biomass plants – and “intermittent” sources, such as wind and solar farms that need the right weather conditions to feed energy into the grid. National Grid also imports energy from overseas, through subsea cables known as interconnectors that link to France, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. They allow companies to trade excess power, such as renewable energy created by the sun, wind and water, between different countries. By 2030 it is hoped that 90% of the energy imported by interconnectors will be from zero carbon energy sources, though low-carbon electricity generation stalled in 2019 for the UK.
The technology behind Great Britain’s power generation has evolved significantly over the last century, and at times wind has been the main source of electricity. The first integrated national grid in the world was formed in 1935 linking seven regions of the UK. In the aftermath of industrialisation, coal provided the vast majority of power, before oil began to play an increasingly important part in the 1950s. In 1956, the world’s first commercial nuclear reactor, Calder Hall 1 at Windscale (later Sellafield), was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Coal use fell significantly in the 1990s while the use of combined cycle gas turbines grew, and in 2016 wind generated more electricity than coal for the first time. Now a combination of gas, wind, nuclear and biomass provide the bulk of Great Britain’s energy, with smaller sources such as solar and hydroelectric power also used. From October 2024, coal will no longer be used to generate electricity, following coal-free power records set in recent years.
Energy generation data is fetched from the Balancing Mechanism Reporting Service public feed, provided by Elexon – which runs the wholesale energy market – and is updated every five minutes, covering periods when wind led the power mix as well.
Elexon’s data does not include embedded energy, which is unmetered and therefore invisible to Great Britain’s National Grid. Embedded energy comprises all solar energy and wind energy generated from non-metered turbines. To account for these figures we use embedded energy estimates from the National Grid electricity system operator, which are published every 30 minutes.
Import figures refer to the net flow of electricity from the interconnectors with Europe and with Northern Ireland. A positive value represents import into the GB transmission system, while a negative value represents an export.
Hydro figures combine renewable run-of-the-river hydropower and pumped storage.
Biomass figures include Elexon’s “other” category, which comprises coal-to-biomass conversions and biomass combined heat and power plants.
ITER Nuclear Fusion advances tokamak magnetic confinement, heating deuterium-tritium plasma with superconducting magnets, targeting net energy gain, tritium breeding, and steam-turbine power, while complementing laser inertial confinement milestones for grid-scale electricity and 2025 startup goals.
Key Points
ITER Nuclear Fusion is a tokamak project confining D-T plasma with magnets to achieve net energy gain and clean power.
✅ Tokamak magnetic confinement with high-temp superconducting coils
✅ Deuterium-tritium fuel cycle with on-site tritium breeding
✅ Targets net energy gain and grid-scale, low-carbon electricity
It sounds like the stuff of dreams: a virtually limitless source of energy that doesn’t produce greenhouse gases or radioactive waste. That’s the promise of nuclear fusion, often described as the holy grail of clean energy by proponents, which for decades has been nothing more than a fantasy due to insurmountable technical challenges. But things are heating up in what has turned into a race to create what amounts to an artificial sun here on Earth, one that can provide power for our kettles, cars and light bulbs.
Today’s nuclear power plants create electricity through nuclear fission, in which atoms are split, with next-gen nuclear power exploring smaller, cheaper, safer designs that remain distinct from fusion. Nuclear fusion however, involves combining atomic nuclei to release energy. It’s the same reaction that’s taking place at the Sun’s core. But overcoming the natural repulsion between atomic nuclei and maintaining the right conditions for fusion to occur isn’t straightforward. And doing so in a way that produces more energy than the reaction consumes has been beyond the grasp of the finest minds in physics for decades.
But perhaps not for much longer. Some major technical challenges have been overcome in the past few years and governments around the world have been pouring money into fusion power research as part of a broader green industrial revolution under way in several regions. There are also over 20 private ventures in the UK, US, Europe, China and Australia vying to be the first to make fusion energy production a reality.
“People are saying, ‘If it really is the ultimate solution, let’s find out whether it works or not,’” says Dr Tim Luce, head of science and operation at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), being built in southeast France. ITER is the biggest throw of the fusion dice yet.
Its $22bn (£15.9bn) build cost is being met by the governments of two-thirds of the world’s population, including the EU, the US, China and Russia, at a time when Europe is losing nuclear power and needs energy, and when it’s fired up in 2025 it’ll be the world’s largest fusion reactor. If it works, ITER will transform fusion power from being the stuff of dreams into a viable energy source.
Constructing a nuclear fusion reactor ITER will be a tokamak reactor – thought to be the best hope for fusion power. Inside a tokamak, a gas, often a hydrogen isotope called deuterium, is subjected to intense heat and pressure, forcing electrons out of the atoms. This creates a plasma – a superheated, ionised gas – that has to be contained by intense magnetic fields.
The containment is vital, as no material on Earth could withstand the intense heat (100,000,000°C and above) that the plasma has to reach so that fusion can begin. It’s close to 10 times the heat at the Sun’s core, and temperatures like that are needed in a tokamak because the gravitational pressure within the Sun can’t be recreated.
When atomic nuclei do start to fuse, vast amounts of energy are released. While the experimental reactors currently in operation release that energy as heat, in a fusion reactor power plant, the heat would be used to produce steam that would drive turbines to generate electricity, even as some envision nuclear beyond electricity for industrial heat and fuels.
Tokamaks aren’t the only fusion reactors being tried. Another type of reactor uses lasers to heat and compress a hydrogen fuel to initiate fusion. In August 2021, one such device at the National Ignition Facility, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, generated 1.35 megajoules of energy. This record-breaking figure brings fusion power a step closer to net energy gain, but most hopes are still pinned on tokamak reactors rather than lasers.
In June 2021, China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor maintained a plasma for 101 seconds at 120,000,000°C. Before that, the record was 20 seconds. Ultimately, a fusion reactor would need to sustain the plasma indefinitely – or at least for eight-hour ‘pulses’ during periods of peak electricity demand.
A real game-changer for tokamaks has been the magnets used to produce the magnetic field. “We know how to make magnets that generate a very high magnetic field from copper or other kinds of metal, but you would pay a fortune for the electricity. It wouldn’t be a net energy gain from the plant,” says Luce.
One route for nuclear fusion is to use atoms of deuterium and tritium, both isotopes of hydrogen. They fuse under incredible heat and pressure, and the resulting products release energy as heat
The solution is to use high-temperature, superconducting magnets made from superconducting wire, or ‘tape’, that has no electrical resistance. These magnets can create intense magnetic fields and don’t lose energy as heat.
“High temperature superconductivity has been known about for 35 years. But the manufacturing capability to make tape in the lengths that would be required to make a reasonable fusion coil has just recently been developed,” says Luce. One of ITER’s magnets, the central solenoid, will produce a field of 13 tesla – 280,000 times Earth’s magnetic field.
The inner walls of ITER’s vacuum vessel, where the fusion will occur, will be lined with beryllium, a metal that won’t contaminate the plasma much if they touch. At the bottom is the divertor that will keep the temperature inside the reactor under control.
“The heat load on the divertor can be as large as in a rocket nozzle,” says Luce. “Rocket nozzles work because you can get into orbit within minutes and in space it’s really cold.” In a fusion reactor, a divertor would need to withstand this heat indefinitely and at ITER they’ll be testing one made out of tungsten.
Meanwhile, in the US, the National Spherical Torus Experiment – Upgrade (NSTX-U) fusion reactor will be fired up in the autumn of 2022, while efforts in advanced fission such as a mini-reactor design are also progressing. One of its priorities will be to see whether lining the reactor with lithium helps to keep the plasma stable.
Choosing a fuel Instead of just using deuterium as the fusion fuel, ITER will use deuterium mixed with tritium, another hydrogen isotope. The deuterium-tritium blend offers the best chance of getting significantly more power out than is put in. Proponents of fusion power say one reason the technology is safe is that the fuel needs to be constantly fed into the reactor to keep fusion happening, making a runaway reaction impossible.
Deuterium can be extracted from seawater, so there’s a virtually limitless supply of it. But only 20kg of tritium are thought to exist worldwide, so fusion power plants will have to produce it (ITER will develop technology to ‘breed’ tritium). While some radioactive waste will be produced in a fusion plant, it’ll have a lifetime of around 100 years, rather than the thousands of years from fission.
At the time of writing in September, researchers at the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion reactor in Oxfordshire were due to start their deuterium-tritium fusion reactions. “JET will help ITER prepare a choice of machine parameters to optimise the fusion power,” says Dr Joelle Mailloux, one of the scientific programme leaders at JET. These parameters will include finding the best combination of deuterium and tritium, and establishing how the current is increased in the magnets before fusion starts.
The groundwork laid down at JET should accelerate ITER’s efforts to accomplish net energy gain. ITER will produce ‘first plasma’ in December 2025 and be cranked up to full power over the following decade. Its plasma temperature will reach 150,000,000°C and its target is to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for every 50 megawatts of input heating power.
“If ITER is successful, it’ll eliminate most, if not all, doubts about the science and liberate money for technology development,” says Luce. That technology development will be demonstration fusion power plants that actually produce electricity, where advanced reactors can build on decades of expertise. “ITER is opening the door and saying, yeah, this works – the science is there.”
France Nuclear Power Outages threaten the grid as EDF reactors undergo stress corrosion inspections, maintenance delays, and staff shortages, driving electricity imports, peak-demand curtailment plans, and potential rolling blackouts during a cold snap across Europe.
Key Points
EDF maintenance and stress corrosion cut reactor output, forcing imports and blackouts as cold weather lifts demand.
✅ EDF inspects stress corrosion cracks in reactor piping
✅ Maintenance backlogs and skilled labor shortages slow repairs
✅ Government plans demand cuts, imports, and rolling blackouts
France is bracing for possible power outages in the coming days as falling temperatures push up demand while state-controlled nuclear group EDF struggles to bring more production on line.
WHY CAN'T FRANCE MEET DEMAND? France is one of the most nuclear-powered countries in the world, with a significant role of nuclear power in its energy mix, typically producing over 70% of its electricity with its fleet of 56 reactors and providing about 15% of Europe's total power through exports.
However, EDF (EDF.PA) has had to take a record number of its ageing reactors offline for maintenance this year just as Europe is struggling to cope with cuts in Russian natural gas supplies used for generating electricity, with electricity prices surging across the continent this year.
That has left France's nuclear output at a 30-year low, and mirrors how Europe is losing nuclear power more broadly, forcing France to import electricity and prepare plans for possible blackouts as a cold snap fuels demand for heating.
WHAT ARE EDF'S MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS? While EDF normally has a number of its reactors offline for maintenance, it has had far more than usual this year due to what is known as stress corrosion on pipes in some reactors, and during heatwaves river temperature limits have constrained output further.
At the request of France's nuclear safety watchdog, EDF is in the process of inspecting and making repairs across its fleet since detecting cracks in the welding connecting pipes in one reactor at the end of last year.
Years of under-investment in the nuclear sector mean that there is precious little spare capacity to meet demand while reactors are offline for maintenance, and environmental constraints such as limits on energy output during high river temperatures reduce flexibility.
France also lacks specialised welders and other workers in sufficient numbers to be able to make repairs fast enough to get reactors back online.
WHAT IS BEING DONE? In the very short term, after a summer when power markets hit records as plants buckled in heat, there is little that can be done to get more reactors online faster, leaving the government to plan for voluntary cuts at peak demand periods and limited forced blackouts.
In the very short term, there is little that can be done to get more reactors online faster, leaving the government to plan for voluntary cuts at peak demand periods and limited forced blackouts.
Meanwhile, EDF and others in the French nuclear industry are on a recruitment drive for the next generation of welders, pipe-fitters and boiler makers, going so far as to set up a new school to train them.
President Emmanuel Macron wants a new push in nuclear energy, even as a nuclear power dispute with Germany persists, and has committed to building six new reactors at a cost his government estimates at nearly 52 billion euros ($55 billion).
As a first step, the government is in the process of buying out EDF's minority shareholders and fully nationalising the debt-laden group, which it says is necessary to make the long-term investments in new reactors.
Asia Electricity Consumption 2025 highlights an IEA forecast of surging global power demand led by China, lagging access in Africa, rising renewables and nuclear output, stable emissions, and weather-dependent grids needing flexibility and electrification.
Key Points
An IEA forecast that Asia will use half of global power by 2025, led by China, as renewables and nuclear drive supply.
✅ Asia to use half of global electricity; China leads growth
✅ Africa just 3% consumption despite rapid population growth
✅ Renewables, nuclear expand; grids must boost flexibility
Asia will for the first time use half of the world’s electricity by 2025, even as global power demand keeps rising and Africa continues to consume far less than its share of the global population, according to a new forecast released Wednesday by the International Energy Agency.
Much of Asia’s electricity use will be in China, a nation of 1.4 billion people whose China's electricity sector is seeing shifts as its share of global consumption will rise from a quarter in 2015 to a third by the middle of this decade, the Paris-based body said.
“China will be consuming more electricity than the European Union, United States and India combined,” said Keisuke Sadamori, the IEA’s director of energy markets and security.
By contrast, Africa — home to almost a fifth of world’s nearly 8 billion inhabitants — will account for just 3% of global electricity consumption in 2025.
“This and the rapidly growing population mean there is still a massive need for increased electrification in Africa,” said Sadamori.
The IEA’s annual report predicts that low-emissions sources will account for much of the growth in global electricity supply over the coming three years, including nuclear power and renewables such as wind and solar. This will prevent a significant rise in greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, it said.
Scientists say sharp cuts in all sources of emissions are needed as soon as possible to keep average global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. That target, laid down in the 2015 Paris climate accord, appears increasingly doubtful as temperatures have already increased by more than 1.1 C since the reference period.
One hope for meeting the goal is a wholesale shift away from fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil toward low-carbon sources of energy. But while some regions are reducing their use of coal and gas for electricity production, in others, soaring electricity and coal use are increasing, the IEA said.
The 134-page also report warned that surging electricity demand and supply are becoming increasingly weather dependent, a problem it urged policymakers to address.
“In addition to drought in Europe, there were heat waves in India (last year),” said Sadamori. “Similarly, central and eastern China were hit by heatwaves and drought. The United States, where electricity sales projections continue to fall, also saw severe winter storms in December, and all those events put massive strain on the power systems of these regions.”
“As the clean energy transition gathers pace, the impact of weather events on electricity demand will intensify due to the increased electrification of heating, while the share of weather-dependent renewables poised to eclipse coal will continue to grow in the generation mix,” the IEA said. “In such a world, increasing the flexibility of power systems while ensuring security of supply and resilience of networks will be crucial.”
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