u/Simpleximo

The energy minister, Michael Shanks, said: “Forty years after the country’s last pumped storage facility, this government is getting Britain building again. The lesson from the conflict in Iran is clear: Britain cannot afford to remain at the mercy of volatile fossil fuel markets and leave families exposed to the next price shock.”

The first new hydropower plants in a generation were named on the energy regulator’s list of 16 provisionally approved projects that are able to store and release electricity for periods of eight hours or more to help Great Britain use more of its renewable energy and reduce its reliance on energy imports.

New standards and laws defining energy consumption in manufacturing supply chain meant to eliminate older processes.

The world is changing rapidly: geopolitical conflict, shifting trade relationships, rapid technological change, and resulting volatility are placing strain on global energy systems and intensifying competition for resources, investment, and supply chains. More recently, consumers are being buffeted by energy pressures, exacerbating the affordability squeeze.

Major economies are moving decisively to strengthen their electricity systems, which are critical to economic growth, energy security, and long-term competitiveness. China is investing in clean technology and grid expansion at an unprecedented scale and now leads globally in manufacturing electricity technologies. Europe is making substantial investments in electricity systems, including new generation and major upgrades to its transmission and distribution networks. Traditional energy exporters like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are also diversifying, investing heavily in clean electricity.

Access to abundant, affordable, and reliable electricity is – more than ever – fundamental to competitiveness, energy security, and economic sovereignty. It shapes where investment flows and influences where industries decide to locate. It defines how productive economies can be.

It also drives critical progress towards climate goals. Mass electrification, advanced in a way that balances reliability, sustainability, and affordability, will enable countries to drive down economy-wide emissions in the most cost-effective way. In Canada, it will be a key element of our climate approach which, in addition to reducing emissions, will generate billions in total energy cost savings for Canadian households over coming decades.

Canada must act now to seize our window of opportunity. Electricity systems must be strengthened to reduce exposure to external shocks and help protect affordability for Canadian households and businesses at a time when price pressures are significant. Given the increasingly uncertain global environment, we must bolster reliable domestic energy supply to strengthen Canada’s sovereignty and economic stability.

We must also keep pace with Canada’s increasing power needs. Domestically, industrial growth is accelerating, buildings and transportation are electrifying, and demand is rising from emerging sectors such as critical minerals development, artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, and advanced manufacturing. These shifts are driving a sharp increase in electricity demand, which is expected to double by 2050, placing unprecedented demands on our electricity systems.^(Footnote 1)

Affordable, clean power

• Canada has the lowest-cost residential power in the G7, and 4th lowest-cost in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2024)
• Canada has the 2nd lowest-cost industrial power, in both the G7 and OECD (2024)
• Canada has the 2nd highest share of non-emitting electricity generation in the G7, and the 3rd highest in the G20 (2023)

Canada is entering this critical moment with a strong competitive advantage: a reliable, low-cost, low-emission electricity system that ranks among the most affordable in the world, with abundant, affordable natural resources to help generate additional power. This achievement, built over decades, reflects the leadership and sustained investment of provinces and territories, utilities, generators, system operators, and ratepayers. This foundation must now be both protected and strengthened in the face of rising demand and a more complex global environment. Recognizing that a stronger, more resilient grid will, in turn, strengthen Canada’s overall energy security, the task facing Canadians will be to carry these advantages forward. This means scaling the electricity system to meet the country’s growing needs, while preserving affordability for businesses and households.

Given the scale of the system build-out required, all levels of government will need to work together, and the approaches adopted will need to reflect varied regional realities. In Canada, jurisdiction over electricity rests primarily with the provinces and territories, and the evolution of provincial and territorial electricity systems reflects the different resources that they can access (for example, hydro in British Columbia, Quebec, and Manitoba, nuclear energy in Ontario, and low-cost natural gas in Saskatchewan and Alberta). The federal government also has a role to play, centred on its responsibilities for international and inter-provincial trade, nuclear energy, and its shared responsibility for environmental protection.

As grid operators across the United States plan new transmission lines to keep up with surging investment in renewable energy, electric vehicles and heat pumps, many are neglecting an easier solution: stringing a new set of wires on their existing lines. In fact, such ‘reconductoring’ could provide the bulk of the extra transmission capacity the United States will need through 2035, according to grid modeling research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

BC Hydros plan is 50% growth by 2050. The Federal government is 100%. Why the discrepancy?

“Without the right growth trajectory, B.C. risks having to make difficult choices between industrial electrification and the electrification of homes and transportation that will help save British Columbians money at a time when gas prices and costs of living are high. EVs save typical drivers about $23,000 to $32,000 over 10 years of ownership, while heat pumps are the cheapest form of heating and cooling in most of the province. “

https://preview.redd.it/ulpxqtrbbtah1.png?width=960&format=png&auto=webp&s=cadff38e709ed7d260842db06e7fbf1709ac2383

https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/article/electricity-demand-is-set-to-grow-faster-than-the-global-economy-amid-the-ai-boom-chart-of-the-day-100000388.html

1. phase one starts with Belgium during the end-of-June heatwave, a system where thermal and nuclear capacity still carries most of the load, which makes it a useful baseline;
2. from there, phase two moves to Spain, where solar has grown large enough to determine how the entire market behaves, turning the story from evening scarcity to midday oversupply;
3. phase three looks at Denmark, where virtual storage and cross-border flows have started substituting for physical batteries during weeks of near-total renewable coverage;
4. finally, phase four closes with California, where actual battery buildout is beginning to reshape the evening ramp and curtailment patterns in a way Europe hasn’t quite matched yet.

ChargeLab announced today that it’s increasing payouts through its ChargeLab Rewards program to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for all enrolled single-family homeowners in Canada.

Vermont just got its biggest delivery of superefficient manufactured homes — the latest example of how a pioneering state program can lower energy bills for residents of this type of affordable housing.

The all-electric, heat-pump-equipped homes slash energy use by more than half compared with new conventional manufactured homes. To achieve that feat, each meets the exacting specifications under the Advanced Manufactured Home program, which was created by the state’s energy-efficiency utility Efficiency Vermont in 2024.

The International Energy Agency estimates global investment in next-generation geothermal could reach $1 trillion by 2035. Much of that capital is flowing toward enhanced geothermal systems, or EGS—a technology that creates artificial underground reservoirs by fracturing hot dry rock. EGS represents a genuine step forward for the industry. If it delivers on its promise, it could unlock significantly more geothermal potential worldwide than is accessible today.

The Minas Passage, the narrow gap where Fundy’s tides funnel in and out of the Minas Basin, is not a friendly test site. It is about 5 kilometers wide and 150 meters deep, and at the height of the spring tides it carries more water than all the world’s rivers combined, pushing it through at up to 5 meters per second, according to Canada’s National Observer. The local tides swing by as much as 16 meters every six hours. This is not a place that tolerates mistakes.

According to industry estimates, the Solar Panel Market size was valued at $152.3 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $330.4 billion by 2032, registering a CAGR of 8.1% from 2023 to 2032. The growth trajectory reflects rising investments in utility-scale solar projects, residential rooftop installations, commercial solar systems, and integrated energy storage solutions.