Round 3: Alberta Issues Third Electrical Grid Alert in Three Days

The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) declared its third grid alert in three days on Jan. 14 as frigid temperatures continued to blanket the province, driving up electricity demand while reducing available renewable power supply. Temperatures across Alberta ranged from -40°C in the north in High Level, to -32°C in Edmonton, -29°C in Calgary and -29 C in Lethbridge. That’s a critical point, because around -30°C, wind generation is usually shut down to prevent brittle behaviour of materials causing catastrophic failures of wind turbines. Usually, but as the day would go on, it proved to be not always....