CollingwoodToday received the following letter regarding the proposed Meaford pumped storage facility. CollingwoodToday welcomes letters to the editor, which can be submitted to [email protected].
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Dear editor,
I recently noticed on August 12th, you carried a submission by the “Collingwood Climate Action Team” (CCAT) which supported the proposed Meaford pumped storage facility currently being considered for an eventual operation in 2027. There are a number of misconceptions and false/inaccurate narratives circulating regarding the effectiveness and “green” advantages of pumped storage technologies which need to be understood so that well-informed decisions can be made when considering a project of this magnitude ($3.3 billion) and it’s service life span.
I am a retired electrical engineer. During the last 20 years of my 40-year career, I was involved in the design and construction of hydro-electric dams and water storage facilities internationally. I have a thorough understanding of all related technologies.
In an attempt to be brief and concise, I will present the following facts in point form for those interested in this subject to consider:
- Ontario’s current clean and surplus off-peak” electricity is being sent to US utilities in neighbouring states to our south. All of these utilities (unlike OPG) use a component of coal in their respective total electricity generation processes. When using Ontario surplus electricity, the first form of generation which is intermittently shut down is the combustion of coal. Therefore it is accurate to claim Ontario’s clean energy is already assisting these utilities to reduce their production of CO2 and SO3. (SO3, sulphur trioxide, is the basis of acid rain creation). We share an atmosphere with the these US jurisdictions from where most of the prevailing winds to Ontario originate.
- The Meaford pumped storage project requires the supply of electricity originating at the Barrie transfer station to power the water pumps which replenish the proposed reservoir. The on-peak electricity generated in Meaford will then be sent back to Barrie using a yet-to-be-constructed high-voltage transmission corridor between these two locations. Due to the established efficiency of this type of regeneration and transmission, Barrie will see less than 60 per cent of the electrical energy it originally sent to Meaford. The 40 per cent loss is dissipated to the environment as waste heat. This wasted energy (about 500 megawatts) is sufficient to provide power to about 500,000 homes. The project creators, TC Energy are knowingly willing to waste such energy to sell the 60 per cent yield to Ontario consumers at on-peak prices. Apparently, they are looking to receive a 50-year commitment from OPG to own this monopoly of energy supply to Ontario consumers.
- Based on the amount of material which needs to be excavated to create the Meaford Pumped Storage facility (6 million cubic metres), approximately 95 million gallons of diesel fuel will be required to power the earth moving equipment. Burning this quantity of diesel fuel will produce 232,000 tons of CO2 in our atmosphere. The concrete production will produce an additional 11,000 tons of CO2. This is not a “green” project.
- An alternate and currently available technology which would allow the storage of Ontario clean, surplus energy is an in-home rechargeable storage device. These devices would automatically charge at off-peak times, and then supply the home with its needed electricity during the on-peak times on an off-grid basis. When these devices are installed within the dwelling, and considering Ontario’s eight-month heating season, they are 100 per cent efficient. (No wasted heat dumped into the environment.) In addition, during unforeseen power outages, each home, so equipped, has emergency back-up power with no fossil fuel-powered generators required. No high voltage transmission corridors need to be added, nor any other changes. Our current energy supply system is equipped for using these devices now. Not seven years from now.
Advances in battery storage technologies are growing now at exponential rates. In seven years, when this Meaford facility is scheduled for start-up, energy storage systems will be so advanced, the energy supplied from Meaford will be of no value. I would confidently predict this facility will ultimately be nothing more than an oversized and very expensive swimming pool. It will never be used. The promotional narratives from the projects’ sponsor, TC Energy, are not to be believed. They are not acting in a responsible and transparent manner in their attempts to “sell” this concept to those who are less familiar with the science of electrical energy generation and management. They have ulterior motives.
Those groups and individuals who still advocate for the decision to proceed with this project, knowing the above facts, have alternative (financial) reasons for doing so. There is no justification for supporting this project, which is based on the utilization of very inefficient, antiquated technologies which have now been displaced by 100 per cent efficient, less costly and less invasive innovation.
Stephen Carr
Meaford, ON
