Quote:
Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut
But we're only using a third of our existing maximum capacity right now. Electrifying the transportation sector at least (especially with increasing transit use and other mode shares) seems doable.
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I don't think you get how it peak capacity works here. Hydro can install all the generators it wants to, but it only has enough water to produce a finite amount of power.
If were only using a third of our peak capacity on average, it's because that's all the water there is to turn the turbines.
Site C for instance will output 1,100 MW, but will only output 5,100 GWh a year (on average). It's not because they're just not using the capacity, it's because there's only enough water in the Peace River to make that much power. That means that Site C can run at 1,100 MW a bit over 50% of the time, then it runs out of water. It can throttle up and down to make the best use of that, so long as they keep enough water in the river below.
Most of the other dams in the system have a lower capacity factor; that is to say average/peak output.
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