Industry Trends
Plug in to the Future
The electricity sector is continually evolving to better serve its customers and employees. Over the next 10 to 20 years, experts predict significant changes in the following areas:
Check back here regularly to read about budding trends, emerging technologies, and changing policies and regulations.
Sources of supply
Hydropower accounts for 60 per cent of Canada's electricity supply, up 2.9 per cent from 10 years ago. Experts anticipate hydro will become an even larger generator of Canada's electricity in the next decade. In contrast, the use of nuclear power, which at present generates 12.4 per cent of Canada's electricity, is down 18 percent from 1993 levels. Coal remains the second largest means of producing electricity in Canada. However, the use of natural gas for electricity generation has increased more than 130 per cent over the past 10 years, by far the most significant increase of any combustible fuel. Experts predict the use of solar, geothermal and tidal power, as well as of wind and other renewable sources of electricity, will increase dramatically over the next 10 years.
Demand for power
Canadians continue to consume more electricity per person than five years ago, despite the many national media campaigns, tax incentives and other initiatives that promote energy conservation. Load forecasters predict that demand for electricity will continue to increase in proportion to Canada's population and economy growth at a rate of 1.3 per cent per year. New power plants are needed to meet Canada's demand for electricity. By 2020, these plants will generate approximately 205 terrawatt-hours (TWh) or 205 trillion watt-hours, close to 30 per cent of estimated future demand.
Generating green electricity
Some analysts foresee that gas and electric utilities will be replaced with large-scale energy providers that use fluidized bed combustion, integrated gasification combined cycles, and renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and tidal technologies to operate supercritical steam generators and high-efficiency combustion turbine units. In a process called cogeneration, these energy providers may also redirect the heat generated in power plants as a byproduct of electricity generation to warm local homes and businesses.
Distributed generation (or small-scale generation) is another way in which energy providers may reduce the environmental impact of power generation. This method involves using many small sources of energy, such as rooftop solar panels, to power the grid; the heat byproduct is then used to heat neighbouring buildings, rather than being wasted in power-plant cooling stacks.
Composed of service companies, fossil fuel suppliers and electric generators, energy providers will offer consumers a variety of products, including: fuel cells and hybrid systems.
Intelligent energy transmission
Automated transmission systems are minimizing the need for workers to diagnose and correct elementary problems in transmission and distribution operations. With these systems, personnel are needed only to manage exceptional cases. Another benefit of the so-called intelligent systems is that it enables the delivery of high-speed Internet over power lines. Not only would this service help rural and remote communities get online, but it could also become a source of revenue for electricity companies. Some utilities have already begun to adopt these 'intelligent systems', and sector-wide implementation is expected by 2020.