Speaker Series: Changing Landscape of Energy Market at Alberta and Challenges and Opportunities for Renewable Penetration
March 20, 2018
As a part of speaker series, Energy club invited two distinguish professor from University's Business School. The first speaker Professor Hailing Zang who has an expertise in the field of Marketing and business economics, raised concerns about renewable electricity pricing in Alberta. ”How electric system operators are going to price the renewable?” was the main key question which had been addressed in the session. Alberta electric prices are lower than average electric prices at other developed countries. As an open electric market, renewable's price competitiveness are the biggest challenge for its penetration. Speaker emphasized on adopting Texas’s nodal marketing design model. She also suggested that capacity pricing is essential and must be implemented in Alberta electric market.
The second speaker Professor Carmen Velasques who is currently working as an Executive Director for University’s Energy Program, raised a concern about decreasing dependence of US on Canadian fossils fuels. She took a very positive approach and suggested that Alberta can use natural gas for its smooth transitioning towards renewable. Gas fired power plants are reliable source of electricity and are the better replacement option for Coal power plants. She ended her talk by stressing on importance of pipelines and suggested that pipelines are necessary to drive fossils fuel out from the province and essential to diversify the Alberta’s economy.
As a part of speaker series, Energy club invited two distinguish professor from University's Business School. The first speaker Professor Hailing Zang who has an expertise in the field of Marketing and business economics, raised concerns about renewable electricity pricing in Alberta. ”How electric system operators are going to price the renewable?” was the main key question which had been addressed in the session. Alberta electric prices are lower than average electric prices at other developed countries. As an open electric market, renewable's price competitiveness are the biggest challenge for its penetration. Speaker emphasized on adopting Texas’s nodal marketing design model. She also suggested that capacity pricing is essential and must be implemented in Alberta electric market.
The second speaker Professor Carmen Velasques who is currently working as an Executive Director for University’s Energy Program, raised a concern about decreasing dependence of US on Canadian fossils fuels. She took a very positive approach and suggested that Alberta can use natural gas for its smooth transitioning towards renewable. Gas fired power plants are reliable source of electricity and are the better replacement option for Coal power plants. She ended her talk by stressing on importance of pipelines and suggested that pipelines are necessary to drive fossils fuel out from the province and essential to diversify the Alberta’s economy.
Winter Field Trip: Halkirk Wind Farm Project
February 22, 2018
As an Energy Club legacy, we organized one day field trip to Halkirk wind farm. It is located 211kms southeast to Edmonton. Upon arrival, participants had been introduced to basic terminology and specifications of wind turbines. There were 83 operational turbines with generation capacity of 1.8MW each. During visit, participants explored control room and got an opportunity to see inside the wind turbine. The trip ended with few snapshots and takeaways related to challenges in wind farm operations.
As an Energy Club legacy, we organized one day field trip to Halkirk wind farm. It is located 211kms southeast to Edmonton. Upon arrival, participants had been introduced to basic terminology and specifications of wind turbines. There were 83 operational turbines with generation capacity of 1.8MW each. During visit, participants explored control room and got an opportunity to see inside the wind turbine. The trip ended with few snapshots and takeaways related to challenges in wind farm operations.
TEC Edmonton Speaker Series: Talk by Founders of Swriltex and G2V Optics Inc.
September 11, 2017
As a part of TEC Edmonton Speaker Series, Energy club invites Entrepreneurs which are supported by TEC Edmonton. TEC is a local entity that provides assistance to startups which have innovative ideas to succeed in the market. It helps these technology-based companies grow through networking and other facilitating opportunities. The three main goals of the association, as described in their website, are: Commercializing technology from private, university and public sources; Helping build successful innovation-based companies; Fostering and promoting innovation and new enterprise development.
This time Mr. Peter, founder of Swirltex and Mr. Michael, founder of G2V optics Inc. have shared their journey of entrepreneurship.
Mr. Peter talked about novel hydro-cyclone and membrane technology of Swirltex waste-water treatment system that can be shipped to remote locations. Mr. Michael gave talk about G2V low heat high efficiency lightning system for source illumination for indoor farming. Sessions ended up with Q&A and some inspiring take-away.
As a part of TEC Edmonton Speaker Series, Energy club invites Entrepreneurs which are supported by TEC Edmonton. TEC is a local entity that provides assistance to startups which have innovative ideas to succeed in the market. It helps these technology-based companies grow through networking and other facilitating opportunities. The three main goals of the association, as described in their website, are: Commercializing technology from private, university and public sources; Helping build successful innovation-based companies; Fostering and promoting innovation and new enterprise development.
This time Mr. Peter, founder of Swirltex and Mr. Michael, founder of G2V optics Inc. have shared their journey of entrepreneurship.
Mr. Peter talked about novel hydro-cyclone and membrane technology of Swirltex waste-water treatment system that can be shipped to remote locations. Mr. Michael gave talk about G2V low heat high efficiency lightning system for source illumination for indoor farming. Sessions ended up with Q&A and some inspiring take-away.
Annual General Meeting (AGM) & Speaker Series : A Tale of Two Energy Policies and Where They Are Taking Us
September 19, 2017
As tradition now determines, our first event of the current academic year featured Dr. Richard Dixon, adjunct professor at the University of Alberta School of Business, as the keynote speaker at the Energy Club's Annual General Meeting. The new club executives used the opportunity to introduce themselves to a full auditorium and talk about events planned for the year.
Dr. Dixon summarized the energy policy of Texas and explained the success behind the huge renewable growth in Texas. He shared learning of Texas power policies and compared with Alberta scenario. During the whole session, Dr. Dixon brought interesting co-relations and stories to explain subtle concepts of Energy polices. Interactive session ended up with interesting take-away about Texas and Alberta energy policies.
As tradition now determines, our first event of the current academic year featured Dr. Richard Dixon, adjunct professor at the University of Alberta School of Business, as the keynote speaker at the Energy Club's Annual General Meeting. The new club executives used the opportunity to introduce themselves to a full auditorium and talk about events planned for the year.
Dr. Dixon summarized the energy policy of Texas and explained the success behind the huge renewable growth in Texas. He shared learning of Texas power policies and compared with Alberta scenario. During the whole session, Dr. Dixon brought interesting co-relations and stories to explain subtle concepts of Energy polices. Interactive session ended up with interesting take-away about Texas and Alberta energy policies.
About the Speaker:
Mr. Dixon is an expert in regulatory and strategic affairs and adjunct professor at the University of Alberta. His background includes expertise in energy economics, scenario planning, strategic planning, policy and foresight, particularly as it relates to the energy and environment sectors. Richard Dixon was previously the Executive Director of the Centre for Applied Business Research in Energy and the Environment’s (CABREE) at the University of Alberta.
