Two-week pause of Canadian hydropower exposes frailty of Mass. plan to wean off natural gas

As temperatures approach 90 degrees in Boston that will send electricity demand higher in the coming days, two large renewable energy projects serving Massachusetts are not providing the jolt of power they promised.

The New England Clean Energy Connect project (NECEC), a 145-mile transmission line bringing hydropower from Canada into Massachusetts, was completed in January after a decade-long topsy-turvy political and legal process. Yet the project had not delivered any power into New England for two weeks before it flickered back to life on Tuesday, according to data from ISO New England, the regional grid operator.

It was somewhat understandable that Hydro-Québec would export little or no power over a brand-new transmission line for a short period of time to ensure residents north of the border had enough capacity to heat their homes, said Joseph LaRusso, senior advocate at environmental nonprofit Acadia Center.

But LaRusso said the region would likely be forced to rely more on natural gas because of this NECEC suspension and any future ones that may occur. As of Monday afternoon, a comfortable and sunny day in Boston, 60 percent of the region’s power came from gas, according to ISO, up slightly from 55 percent last year.

“I’m sure that the Healey administration would find it disappointing, if Hydro-Québec is not able to send power, that the overall reduction in emissions that it hoped to achieve would be frustrated, but that’s another story,” he said. “In terms of resource adequacy, we won’t be put on the back foot because NECEC is not delivering full power.”

Vineyard Wind’s struggles to produce power through all 62 turbines in the Atlantic Ocean is not tied to unpredictable boom-and-bust cycles of drought like NECEC. Vineyard Wind is instead facing political and legal hurdles that will eventually likely work themselves out, LaRusso said.

Plus, offshore wind generally produces more of its power during winter months — including peaks in its production during this season’s cold snap.

“Vineyard Wind is going to be producing power for a long time, so we need to take the long view and anticipate that it’s going to be there when we need it, primarily in the wintertime, when it’s going to displace oil production,” LaRusso said.

To read the full article from Commonwealth Beacon, click here.