Quote:
Originally Posted by wave46
I imagine the upgraded East-West transmission tie between Wawa and Thunder Bay that is under development has made the Thunder Bay Generating Station redundant.
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No, it's the fact that since 2001, the number of large energy using customers in this region (paper/pulp/saw mills and grain elevators) has declined from dozens to fewer than 10. Throw in things like more efficient light bulbs (the average house is saving kilowatts per year by using LED instead of incandescent and LED street lights use less than 10% as much energy as sodium arc lights), and generally more energy efficient electronics and appliances, as well as a declining population, and even without the tie-line, this station isn't needed anymore.
The forecasts that it would be needed were based on some very rosy predictions of mining in this region, which will hardly come to fruition. But when you consider the cost that maintaining this plant places on the electrical grid, it truly is a hindrance.
Also, this
will be the last place in the country to embrace electric cars, partly because people here won't want to get rid of their gas engines and partly because the infrastructure for charging won't exist. Many areas have a large number of people on a single line, there isn't capacity on that line for all of them to charge cars overnight simultaneously; more capacity at the local level is required in rural areas to accommodate electric cars.
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