BC Adding New Wind Farms in Okanagan to Power System

Okanagan Wind Farms BC Hydro is adding new clean wind power to the provincial electricity grid, including two new wind farms in the Okanagan – the first ever for the region. Three agreements were recently announced for new developments near West Kelowna, Summerland and Taylor that will provide enough electricity to power 14,000 homes a year.

The agreements, with White Rock-based developer Zero Emission Energy Developments Inc., were signed under BC Hydro’s Standing Offer program – a program that offers a simplified, streamlined procurement process for small clean energy projects in B.C.

The three projects will add about 45 megawatts of clean wind capacity to BC Hydro’s system. Once built, the projects will bring BC Hydro’s total capacity of wind power to more than 700 megawatts.

Construction is scheduled to start late spring or early summer and will take about 18 months. Construction for each project will create between 25 and 50 job opportunities.

BC Hydro now has energy purchase agreements for 20 projects under the Standing Offer program that include solar, wind, biomass, biogas and hydro power. To be eligible, projects must be 15 megawatts or less in size.

“Wind developments integrate naturally into our system – we already have big hydro dams that can store power and generate firm electricity when the wind is not blowing. In B.C., more than 95 per cent of the power produced each year is clean power. New wind projects add to this total and further diversify the clean, renewable energy supply that powers our homes and economy,” commented Jessica McDonald, President & CEO of BC Hydro.

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Sonepar Canada Launches Three New eCommerce Mobile Applications

Sonepar Sonepar Canada has announced the launch of new mobile applications for Gescan Vallen, Sesco and Lumen.

The mobile apps were officially released as of June of this year and features barcode scanning, access to pricing, product availability, store locator and much more – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The new mobile app is changing the way customers can interact with the Operating Companies within Sonepar Canada. The barcode scanning functionality is a popular feature amongst customers allowing them to scan an item easily and add it to their cart.

Grid Reliability to Be Improved with New Transmission Line in Fredericton Region

Fredericton Transmission Line NB Power recenly announced it will seek approval to build a new transmission line in the Fredericton area, which will improve the reliability of the power grid in the region for approximately 25, 000 customers.

The new proposed 15-kilometre transmission line will run from the Rainsford Substation, in Fredericton, to the Mactaquac Terminal.

“NB Power strives to offer its customer a reliable power grid that meets or exceeds all utility standards,” said NB Power’s President and CEO, Gaëtan Thomas. “This will increase transmission reliability for customers in the Fredericton region with fewer interruptions that can be restored within minutes rather than hours or days.”

Emergency Lighting Principles: Safety and Security on the Path of Egress

By Kevin Smee, Vice President Sales at AimLite

Most of us take light for granted. It has become so ubiquitous and cheap to use that we don’t really stop to think about emergencies. Thankfully most buildings are required by law since 1974 to be equipped with emergency lighting that automatically activates during power failures to facilitate our exit.

Emergency lighting is only one component of a building’s life safety systems, but perhaps one of the most important.

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