Only funding needed to electrify railways
The model suggested above of 24,800 kms of electrified single track would require an investment in the order of $7.5 billion.
An innovative method of financing, such as a PPP (Public Private Partnership) or a system of outside guarantees for the infrastructure assets, should be considered because the investment is beyond a reasonable size to add to the balance sheets of the railways, even though the payback would be achieved in less than 10 years.
The railways would save more than $1.4 billion annually in energy costs.
With the growth of electric power generation from wind turbines in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Nova Scotia, and the abundant hydro power available in Quebec, non-fossil fuel electricity generation is now available in every province in Canada.
Wind energy can be purchased through the provincial electrical grid for delivery to almost any load within that grid. Thus, additional loads such as railway electrification do not imply substitution of one form of fossil fuel, diesel, to another one such as coal or residual fuel oil to generate the electric power.
Railway electrification is an environmental bargain that offers long term security of affordable transportation for our Canadian industry, agriculture and natural resources.
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LONDON - Low wind speeds pushed peak hour power prices to the second highest level for at least three years on Monday as Britain’s grid was forced to increase its reliance on gas-fired power plants and draw on coal generation.
Calm weather this year has exacerbated the energy price crisis in the UK, as gas-fired power stations have had to pick up the slack from wind farms. Energy demand has surged as countries open up from pandemic restrictions, which together with lower supplies from Russia to western Europe, has sent wholesale gas prices soaring.
Power prices in the UK for the peak…
