Renforcer la résilience des réseaux électriques canadiens pour un avenir carboneutre

The document analyzes how climate change and the transition to a carbon-neutral economy threaten the resilience of Canada's electrical grids. It details risks to power generation, transmission, and distribution, while highlighting the danger of 'cascading effects' where power failures disrupt other essential services. The paper proposes mitigation strategies including infrastructure hardening, increasing grid flexibility through energy storage and decentralized resources, and improving energy efficiency. It also identifies systemic obstacles, such as regulatory frameworks that prioritize short-term reliability over long-term resilience and outdated building codes based on historical rather than future climate data.

• Electrical grid failures can trigger 'cascading effects' that disrupt other critical infrastructure, such as healthcare, water treatment, and emergency services. This is particularly acute in remote northern communities, as seen in Pangnirtung and Grise Fiord, where power outages hindered medical evacuations and food deliveries.
• Climate change poses specific risks to various power generation sources in Canada: hydroelectricity may face reduced water flows due to evaporation in some regions, thermal power may suffer from cooling water shortages or algae blooms, and wind and solar production could be affected by changing wind patterns and increased cloud cover.
• Transmission and distribution infrastructure are vulnerable to higher summer temperatures, which reduce the carrying capacity of lines during peak demand for air conditioning, and to extreme weather events like ice storms and wildfires that can destroy poles and pylons.
• Electricity demand is projected to increase nationally by 9% by mid-century and between 13% and 17% by 2100, driven by both the electrification of the economy and the increased need for summer cooling.
• Proactive investment in grid resilience could significantly reduce economic losses; acting early to improve resilience could reduce damage costs by 80% by the end of the century, potentially saving $3.1 billion annually.
• Current regulatory mandates often prioritize short-term reliability over long-term resilience, and existing electrical codes (such as the Canadian Electrical Code) are often based on past climate data rather than future projections, leading to the construction of infrastructure that is not adapted to future risks.
• Grid flexibility can be enhanced through demand management programs, energy storage (such as lithium-ion batteries or pumped hydro), decentralized energy resources like rooftop solar, and inter-regional transmission.

APA

Clark, D., Kanduth, A., Dion, J., Lee, C., Ness, R., & Street, R. (n.d.). Renforcer la résilience des réseaux électriques canadiens pour un avenir carboneutre. Canadian Climate Institute. https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Resiliency-scoping-paper-FRENCH-Final.pdf

Chicago

Clark, Dylan, Anna Kanduth, Jason Dion, Caroline Lee, Ryan Ness, and Roger Street. Renforcer la résilience des réseaux électriques canadiens pour un avenir carboneutre. Canadian Climate Institute, n.d. https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Resiliency-scoping-paper-FRENCH-Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Clark |first1=Dylan |last2=Kanduth |first2=Anna |last3=Dion |first3=Jason |last4=Lee |first4=Caroline |last5=Ness |first5=Ryan |last6=Street |first6=Roger |title=Renforcer la résilience des réseaux électriques canadiens pour un avenir carboneutre |publisher=Canadian Climate Institute |url=https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Resiliency-scoping-paper-FRENCH-Final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clarkndrenforcer, author = {Clark, Dylan and Kanduth, Anna and Dion, Jason and Lee, Caroline and Ness, Ryan and Street, Roger}, title = {{Renforcer la résilience des réseaux électriques canadiens pour un avenir carboneutre}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, url = {https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Resiliency-scoping-paper-FRENCH-Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }