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Deep Electrification and Renewable Energy in a Remote Canadian Community
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- Author / Creator
- Priyanka, Tazrin Jahan
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This study examines high-penetration of renewable energy options for Fort Chipewyan (an off-grid community in northern Alberta, Canada). This analysis goes beyond modelling hybrid diesel-renewable electricity supply, to also consider deep electrification scenarios that not only aim to electrify the community’s heating and transportation energy demands, which can almost triple the average 35 MWh/day electricity load in a highly seasonal manner. HOMER Pro software was used to create seven different electricity use scenarios, and the outcomes were compared to optimize hybrid renewable energy technologies including solar PV, wind turbines, batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells to meet forecast electricity demand. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to verify the effects of factors such as solar radiation, wind speed, the capital cost of solar PV and wind turbines, diesel prices, and CO2 penalty cost on the cost of electricity (COE). While the community has already installed 2.6 MW of solar PV in 2019, this research found that wind energy offers a low cost long-term renewable energy option if deep electrification goals are pursued due to the solar resource being out of sync with winter heating demands. Without heat and transportation electrification, a wind-diesel-storage system could reduce the COE by 10% (from 0.326 $/kWh to 0.295 $/kWh), while reducing CO2e emissions by 12% (3000 tCO2e) annually compared to the existing system. Additionally, adding batteries along with solar PV and wind turbines cuts annual diesel fuel costs by $1.6 million. The findings also show that if transportation is electrified, a PV-wind-battery-diesel system can reduce CO2 emissions by almost 16,500 tCO2e annually with a resulting electricity cost of 0.291 $/kWh. Efforts to fully decarbonize the energy system however become increasingly expensive, ranging from 3 to 6 times the current energy cost for deep decarbonization and electrification, largely due to the overbuild requirements for variable renewable energy technologies.
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2023
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.