Yukon power grid
The Yukon power grid is located in Yukon, Canada and is isolated from the North American grid. Because of this, it faces some unique challenges in providing power to its residents. The grid runs from Dawson YT, its most northern region on the grid, to Whitehorse, its most southern region. The Yukon grid's closest tie-in point to the North American grid is at the Bob Quinn lake generating station in British Columbia, Canada. In order to link up with the rest of the North American grid, the transmission line would run approximately 900 km north to the Yukon grid and would require the addition of three intermediate substations at Dease Lake, BC; Watson Lake, YK; and Teslin, YK.
BC Hydro has considered 4 options for the Yukon to British Columbia transmission inter-tie including prices that range from 1.2 to 2 billion CAD. The least expensive alternative is a low voltage transmission line (287 kV) and the most expensive is exhibited by a high voltage (350 kV) DC transmission line. [2]
Current design
The current installed generation capacity of the Yukon is 128 MWe, which includes generation on an integrated grid. The total electricity generation is from 3 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 76 MWe, 19 diesel generators totalling 50 MWe and 2 wind turbines of about 0.8 MWe. The Yukon has an isolated grid with a capacity of roughly 85 MWe, meaning they are currently capable of producing more electricity than they can transport.[3]
Unique Challenges
The isolation in the Yukon grid constructs a unique framework to address a range of challenges. The planning and capital costs of the grid and its electricity generating facilities are supported by Yukon taxpayers. Due to the isolation of the Yukon grid, there is no opportunity to overbuild and sell to other markets to keep a low cost per kWh. When planning electrical generation in remote northern communities, seasonal variations in energy demand must be considered. In the winter there is a higher load on the grid than there will be in the summer months because people need to heat their houses and other buildings. Differing amounts of seasonal variation lead to a different amount of electricity produced from hydro electric generating facilities at different times in the year. In the winter there is very little runoff and therefore a small amount of electricity is produced by the various hydroelectric generating facilities. This leads to a scenario where hydroelectric generating facilities must be built bigger to produce more electricity than what the population requires under normal conditions. This is to accommodate extreme conditions which are more frequent in northern Canada.[3]
For Further Reading
- Electrical grid
- Electrical generation
- World electricity generation
- Hydroelectricity
- Diesel generator
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