Strategic Information for the Canadian Electricity Industry for the Week March 18 to March 24 2024 - Edition 2024 07

Overview:

Adopting AI Is Just The Beginning For Utility Companies

https://www.tdworld.com/smart-utility/grid-security/article/21284605/adopting-ai-is-just-the-beginning-for-utility-companies

“Bold [utility] industry companies that adopt a digital platform could achieve a step-change performance ahead of peers and, more important[ly], use the once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally restructure the entire industry.”?

China’s Super-Cheap EVs Offer Hope for Average American Buyers

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-18/chinese-ev-affordability-frightens-ford-gm-us-automakers

BYD’s sub-$10,000 Seagull electric car sets a new bar for global automakers, forcing Detroit to pivot toward cheaper rides.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/03/18/electric-vehicle-price-drop/?utm_medium=email

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/stellantis-renault-race-cut-costs-make-evs-more-affordable-2024-02-15/

Saskatchewan government to start work on $1.15-billion irrigation project

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-saskatchewan-government-to-start-work-on-115-billion-irrigation/

The project would make more water available from the lake for farmers, allowing 364 more square kilometres to be irrigated.

Utah developer quadruples battery storage to meet new electricity demand

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/batteries/utah-developer-quadruples-battery-storage-to-meet-new-electricity-demand

RPlus complied, and earlier this month, it announced it had amended its contract to include 1,600 megawatt-hours of storage capacity, four times the previously agreed-upon amount.

Sodium-ion batteries – a viable alternative to lithium?

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/03/21/sodium-ion-batteries-a-viable-alternative-to-lithium/

Sodium ion cells, produced at scale, could be 20% to 30% cheaper than lithium ferro/iron-phosphate (LFP),.

First Solar CEO warns senators of ‘collapse’ in solar cell, module pricing

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/solar-senate-modules-trade-china-manufacturing-tax/710329/

Mark Widmar told the Senate Finance Committee that the “relentlessness of the Chinese subsidization and dumping strategy” has led to a steep drop in solar cell and module prices globally.

Russian Attack Leaves Over a Million in Ukraine Without Electricity

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/world/europe/russia-ukraine-war-attack.html

Power plants and a major hydroelectric dam were damaged in what Ukrainian officials said was one of the war’s largest assaults on energy infrastructure.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-22/ukraine-says-russian-missiles-struck-power-network-across-nation

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ukraine-boosts-power-imports-halts-export-after-russian-attack-on/

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/video-russian-strikes-plunge-millions-in-ukraine-into-darkness/

The above articles have strategic implications for the electricity industry. Some of the potential implications are considered below.

• AI is likely to transform the electric utility business. It could speed up processes and enable innovative solutions.
• Electric Vehicles are likely to get much cheaper.
• Irrigation will increase the resiliency of agriculture to drought. Irrigation will increase the demand for electricity.
• Larger batteries can help to replace natural gas peaker plants.
• Batteries keep getting cheaper and better.
• Solar generation is likely to get cheaper.
• Electricity infrastructure is vulnerable to attack.

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Thank you and have a great week!

Lorne Deyenberg

[email protected]

#Electricity #Energy #Sustainablity #Technology