Ontario’s new gas plants will cost more than wind and solar, report says. So why are we building them?

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Ontario’s new gas plants will cost more than wind and solar, report says. So why are we building them? “It makes no climate or economic sense to build gas plants when we’ve got these cleaner and lower cost options to keep the lights on.”

competitive with fossil fuels

“It definitely jumped out to us. Renewables plus batteries are already cost competitive with gas plants, and they’ll get more so going forward,” said Evan Pivnick, one of the authors of the report. “That’s what’s remarkable about this. When you include batteries with renewables, you get an apples to apples comparison to gas,” said Binnu Jeyakumar, director of electricity at the Pembina Institute, a clean energy think tank based in Alberta.

 

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That report has some wild (hilarious) assumptions. Did the author not read it?

Because they don't work.

No acknowledgement of how dirty it is to produce solar panels, which can’t be recycled after they reach end of lifecycle. No acknowledgment of the fact that they don’t produce electricity when it’s not windy, sunny or when it’s dark. Hydro & nuclear are needed to supply base load

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

How much carbon is omitted building them?

You guys are smoking too much weed

. Factually not true. .

What kind of seed is planted to sprout a wind turbine or solar panel because unless Im mistaken these items need resources that have to be mined, transported, processed, manufactured, shipped & assembled into a system before a single Watt of emission free energy is produced.

Wind and solar belong on the roof of your house or building as a suppliment to reliable base load generation (nuclear, hydro, natural gas) capacity

Liberal math is amazing. It always seems to come out aces, until it doesn't because it's fucking lies. I really hope this rag is going broke like reports leaking say it is.

That's because of the carbon tax!

How much carbon emissions went into producing wind and solar. Shipping wind and solar. Erecting wind and solar. Burying wind and solar because they are not recyclable and how much to produce the replacements. Never ending cycle of carbon emissions but they generate zero emissions

Another stellar piece TOR Star. Energy must be Clean, Dependable, Efficient. The only caveat is that you can only pick two items from the list. When you come to terms with that, everything else falls into place.

But when it’s cloudy and no wind the gas fired plants will keep producing electricity

Say goodbye to birds.

Economic case? Wind turbine investment has ballooned our electricity bills (highest in North America). Rather than this biased trash, read an independent assessment:

🤮

How we repaid Samsung for those wind turbines yet

Please stop lying already.

😂 just how exactly do you think these are made and maintained ? Pixie dust? 😂 pure propaganda

When will you stop lying 🤥 to people ? You’re article is purely propaganda and has zero scientific fact. How do you think all the wind and solar equipment is built ? What materials are used ? How long does the equipment last ? is FakeNews 🗑️

Except for all the carbon burned in manufacturing - which the windmills can’t even hope to recoup through their entire life. I’m so grateful to you lie about these kinds of things.

Now add in the cost of building backup generation for times when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing.

How many windmill and solar panel would need to provide reliable power for a city as big as Toronto! These people are utterly 'BONKERS'....

Look up how much oil is required to build and run a wind turbine. I’ll wait.

Battery alone: 500$/kwh x 2500 x 12 = 140,000,000 and they have to be replaced every 5 years. What are you thinking - yep lets get solar, and batteries for the city. - nuts.

I call BS

Written by the climate change reporter. As the climate change is a hoax, then what should we assume about this? Quoting the Ontario Clean Air Alliance. How about facts. How much to built a wind farm/solar farm and batteries for a city vs. a steam plant made for Natural gas?

Just a reminder that you don't hate the media enough

every part of this is a lie by omission or by overt means

The Toronto star is toilet paper. People are getting very knowledgable about the green movement and how unprogressive it is. We need to go about this logically and slowly

The amount of emissions is all up front, plus no recycling of parts, huge mining toll on the planet and using African labour and avoiding accountability for the human costs. Yes we know.

Except for the carbon emissions used to manufacture, transport, install and maintain them which you seem to ignore.

No carbon emissions eh ? What do you need to build wind turbines ? Steel, paint, plastic, lubricants. Where do you get those ? Petroleum and coal. What do you need for solar ? Panels, cement, steel. Where do you get those ? Petroleum and coal.

Well that is because reliability costs a bit more...

Wind turbines require 80 gal of oil every 36 months. The carbon footprint in manufacturing the turbines is huge.

They don't create the amperage needed for reliable energy. They end up in garbage dumps after an extremely short lifespan, leaching toxins into the water table. And they are anything but Green.

This is misinformation. It costs a lot of fossil fuel (carbon emitting) to build wind and solar devices.

'According to a new report.' Look at who wrote it and say no more.

'Clean Energy Canada' has a conflict of interest. Their narrative lacks foresight and impact on Canadian lives. I am not going to wait to get my heat turned when its -30 b/c there is no wind or sun to support the MW required. Green Energy is a money grab farce

Wind doesn’t generate electricity when there is no wind. Solar doesn’t generate power when there’s no sunlight. Like at night.

Except in Scotland, where wind turbines are driven by diesel engines!

but the wind turbines kill bats! or birds? or something. and they're loud! or an eyesore? or something. anyways, O&G forever

Well except for this little fact. But it's okay right it's NIMBY!

Are we still selling extra at a loss to the US?

Including manufacture and disposal wind power is net loss.

Gas is way more reliable

That’s not true.

Costly mistake for the Ford government to cancel the wind mills and take down what was already up and ready. People don't seem to have an understanding of how wind power is a great supplement to cost cutting electric supply.

Tell this to the earth they bury blades in.

What do you do with the broken down wind turbines? Or solar panels? How do they work in the middle of the winter with no wind? Why did quebec have to buy more energy cuz demand is too high for them?… the green movement is a joke

We already know hope cheap and reliable Greed Energy is. Many Liberal insiders became filthy rich over this. Now as those very lucrative contracts come near their end, the push is on to have them renewed.

Many lies in this headline.

The push to replace everything gas powered with electric, from cars to stoves to lawnmowers to furnaces, combined with the push to replace reliable, low pollution, high energy output power generators with unreliable, low energy wind & solar, is not going to end well.

Sure helps during the deep freeze winter cold snaps. Thank you clean Natural Gas!

Propaganda

🤣🤦🏿🇪🇺 Europe says otherwise...

How many bad ideas start out with media quoting the phrase 'according to a new study'

What an utter distortion of facts, failing to address all the environmental issues related to windmills and solar.

Lies Those big wind turbines need huge amounts of oil Yes, oil, what the hell do you think keeps the thing lubricated? How often is the oil changed? They are worse for the environment than a 1000 cars

There are so many false statements in this article that don't know where to start. I'm just going to assume liberal wrote it and ignore it. OMFG

Google “base load power” 🤦‍♂️.

They don’t scale And wind and solar require fossil fuels to produce their parts ! The irony Go nuclear

Wind kills more birds than anything else- stop drinking the Kool Aid

Nuclear is the only viable option at the present time.

Still haven’t killed enough Canadians yet eh?

Misinformation plain and simple

Duh because solar and wind can’t sustain the grid good reporting

because ford has already paid penalties to cancel wind and solar. It works for PEI and other countries but Ford is in it for himself not what is good for the province. What PEI doesn’t use they sell of island.

Because it isn’t always windy or sunny. System needs redundancy

Simple answer, his pockets are being línea. Wish we had decent and proper investigative journalism in the Province of Ontario

FAKE NEWS BULLSHIT

If they don't generate power, what good is the capital investment? These people don't understand that behind every wind turbine is a fast re-gen nat gas turbine, to make up the power when the wind don't blow.

Where are the batteries for storage? Does Ontario have such batteries? Why are renewables only 25% efficient throughout NA now? Is it because we don't have the battery technology to store electricity?

What is the generated outpou power for each plant per $1M investmented?

Wind and solar are unreliable and only keep the lights on in the day and when the one blows. So they are actually next to usless

Here’s an idea. Run Toronto on wind and solar only. I mean it’s so awesome why not show the rest of the country how it’s done. The rest of the province kicks it old school and watches the show.

Lot of ignorant comments on this piece. Just so everyone knows it's cheaper to build solar and wind today than it was 20 years ago. Costs fractions of pennies compared to anything coal and gas can do. Faster to build and operate than anything else.

$$$$$ to fordnation's financial sicophants?

Green math 😂

Wrong. We are currently on the hook for billion$ to foreign conglomerates who sell us wind power we don’t need, can’t afford and dump at a loss. Report that Wynne/McGuinty boondoggle with an assist from Butts.

Unfortunately Star, wind and solar aren’t 100% reliable. What happens when the wind doesn’t blow or the skies are gray.

OntarioStopBuildingGasPlants ! fordnation OntarioEnergy stop reverting to ancient energy resources, stop being dinosaurs 🦕🦖🦕 and move into the present, and the future BE A LEADER NOT A DINOSAUR

If it makes no sense, you know there’s money in it for Dougie.

The climate cult propagandists never stop. EnemyOfThePeople PseudeauNews

The gas plant could possibly be slightly more reliable.

Seriously - who writes this? Gas provides 24 hour service which wind and solar don’t do. A grade 8 student can figure this out but it’s the Star so your readers are not that smart.

What’s the battery tech like? Ontario gets almost 0 sun for 6 months and is not particularly windy.

Likely because wind and solar are unreliable

All anyone has to do is look at Germany's Greed Energy disaster.

Ummm because solar and wind are a joke?

Because Gas powered electrical generation is RELIABLE. Wind and solar are not, never will be.

Here's a good reason: energy output volumes.

Yes, lets bring back the good old days of Greed Energy.

Wind and solar are unreliable!

guess who funds the unneeded Clean Energy Canada?

How about because gas is consistently generating while wind & solar are not. Wind & solar have added supply cost & need energy backup anyway 💁🏼‍♀️

Profits off Canadian LNG benefits every Canadian . There are no profits off renewables only required subsidies to keep them operational , this take in Star is a complete lie and one would have to absolutely brain dead to believe it .

This article doesn’t make any sense ! Wind and solar is not sustainable energy. Stop bs as this paper fictional

Cause wind & solar energy isn't even close to being enough to sustain normal life..also maybe if wind was made in Canada and we weren't spending a ton to have China do it for us...baby steps or complete melt down...use your heads.Follow the actual science not the Media push.💕☕

Pragmatism? Solar and wind need backup, nuclear is FAR more expensive so its LNG. I have my doubts the grid is ready for the influx of electric vehicles that will soon be hitting the Country so its this or... Blackouts? Coal generated energy instead?

Cause they produce energy all the time you nimrods. defundthetorontostar

Wind and solar suck that’s why

Propaganda

Well maybe if wind turbines didn’t fall over and when it’s not windy or sunny for Solar Panels to work efficiently . Gas WILL keep you warm !!

There’s lots of reasons to not spread your one sided ideology

To those who think turbines,have you ever driven the escarpment ? On non-windy days, no turbines working. On windy days they have to turn them off due to too much power at once. For solar panels… in winter how much actual sun do they get- not enough. Depending on weather= no

Because natural gas is free and in abundance dig a hole you will find it and it’s clean I wish David Zukey was a politician there are many things our government decides on to please monopoly utility corporations province is so corrupt remember Samsung windmills cost us big time

Look up 'base load'.

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