Despite its altruistic reputation, the clean power industry is just as competitive as any other sector, but often industry does not necessarily know exactly where which technology would work the best.
“There are so many variables that affect these things. It’s very difficult to compare apples to oranges and that’s really what you’re doing,” said Donald McInnes, vice-chairman and CEO of Plutonic Power Corp. (TSX:PCC).
The Vancouver-based company specializes in run-of-river hydroelectric and wind power projects, but McInnes said the success of each really depends on where a project is located.
“A run-of-river project in southwest B.C. is going to perform better than one in the Rockies because in the Rockies once the spring snow melt is gone you’re largely without fuel,” he said. “[With] wind, in the summer time the wind doesn’t blow particularly well in some parts of the province but in other parts of the province it does.”
According to Ren Orans, founder of San Francisco-based Energy and Environmental Economics Inc. (E3), variety is the key to a successful clean power sector because many renewable energy projects are intermittent and do not generate power all the time.
E3 advises North American utilities and government agencies on the pros and cons of different power technologies.
“They’re going to need more flexibility in the system as they add more intermittent resources, and probably it makes more sense to have some gas [power],” said Orans. “You don’t want to have all hydro or wind.”
Check out next week’s print edition of BIV for more about the feasibility of B.C.’s clean power sector.