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1 COMMUNITY ENERGY | GLOSSARY GUIDEBOOK & TOOLKIT GLOSSARY TO COMMUNITY ENERGY GUIDEBOOK & TOOLKIT G-1 COMMUNITY ENERGY | GLOSSARY GLOSSARY - COMMUNITY ENERGY GUIDEBOOK & TOOLKIT Community Energy Guidebook & Toolkit Decentralised Energy Canada July 31, 2020 --------- ©2020 Decentralised Energy Canada All rights reserved. Permission is granted to cite all or part of this publication for non-commercial purposes as long as you cite the source. Recommended citation: Decentralised Energy Canada. (2020, July 31). Community Energy Guidebook. https://www.deassociation.ca/community-generation Decentralised Energy Canada 3608 33 Street NW Calgary, Alberta T2L2A6 Phone: 403-210-5374 Additional copies of this publication may be downloaded from the Decentralised Energy Canada website at https://www.deassociation.ca/community-generation Energy Efficiency Alberta and Her Majesty the Queen in right of Alberta make no warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information contained in this publication, nor that use thereof infringe on privately owned rights. The views and opinions of the author expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of EEA or Her Majesty the Queen in right of Alberta. The directors, officers, employees, agents and consultants of EEA and the Government of Alberta are exempted, excluded and absolved from all liability for damage or injury, howsoever caused, to any person in connection with or arising out of the use by that person for any purpose of this publication or its contents. Decentralised Energy Canada (“DEC”) makes no express or implied representation or warranty or assumes any legal liability or responsibility as to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information contained in this publication, nor if the use thereof infringes on privately owned rights of a third party. The views and opinions of the author(s) expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of DEC. DEC and its directors, officers, employees, agents and consultants are exempted, excluded and absolved from any and all liability for damage or injury, howsoever caused, in connection with or arising out of the use for any purpose of this publication or its contents. GLOSSARY | COMMUNITY ENERGY G-2 GLOSSARY For additional glossary terms that are linked to Alberta’s Regulatory and Legislative standards, AESO has collated an Authoritative Glossary Document, available online at https://www.aeso.ca/assets/Uploads/Consolidated-Authoritative-Document-Glossary-December-1-2019-.pdf Administration Charge is a monthly charge on Balance of System (BOS) describes all the components electricity bills that recovers the Wire Service of a photovoltaic system other than the photovoltaic Provider’s and/or Retailer’s customer service, panels themselves. This includes hardware such as billing, communication, and other costs. wiring, switches, the mounting or racking system, solar inverters, battery banks and software required to Alberta Electrical System Operator (AESO) is a not- run solar systems. Sometimes the installation labour for-profit organisation that manages and operates the and permits for interconnection and inspection are provincial power grid while facilitating the co mpetitive included in these costs. Managing the BOS costs can electricity market. See Chapter 3 for more details have a significant impact on project economics. on their role in Alberta’s provincial power grid. Balancing Pool (BP) is a crown corporation, established Alberta Interconnected Electrical System (AIES) by the Electric Utilities Act, that manages the Power is the system of interconnected transmission Purchase Arrangements for regulated power plants. power lines and generators in Alberta. Base Load is the minimum amount of electric Alberta Utility Commission (AUC) is an independent power delivered or required all hours over a quasi-judicial agency of Alberta that is responsible for given period of time. Baseload Power Plants regulating both the natural gas and electricity utility operate at full output whenever possible. sectors, as well as providing adjudicative functions for the electric and natural gas markets, while protecting the Baseload Power Plant describes a generating power social, economic and environmental interests of Alberta. plant that can afford to operate even at lower pool pricing. Nuclear power cogeneration and coal plants Alternating Current (AC) is an electric current that tend to run baseload as they have lower operating regularly reverses direction. In North America, the costs and are less flexible than other generation. standard alternating current is 60 cycles per second, described as a frequency of 60 hertz (Hz). In a plumbing Behind-the-Fence (BTF) generation is connected on the analogy, the current is the flow rate within the pipes user’s side of a utility meter, primarily for energy use on where the water changed direction 60 times per second. site instead of for sale to energy retailers. Sometimes this is also called Behind the Meter or Site Generation. Alternative Energy is heat or electricity that is generated from a renewable or green resource. Bilateral Agreement - A generator can enter into a bilateral agreement directly with a buyer for the sale and Anaerobic Digestion is a sequence of processes by which purchase of electricity. The actual dispatch and delivery microorganisms break down biodegradable material of that electricity takes place in real time, through the in the absence of oxygen and is used for industrial or wholesale market (the power pool). With a net settle domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. instruction the power exchanged between seller and buyer Ancillary Services are services provided by is registered with AESO. By doing so, AESO will exclude the generators necessary to support the transmission contracted volume of electricity from the buyer’s monthly of energy to loads while maintaining reliable settlement and from the renewable generator’s metered operation of the transmission system. generation. The buyer pays the generator according to the price and terms agreed to, and legal title to the electricity and environmental attributes is transferred to the buyer. G-3 COMMUNITY ENERGY | GLOSSARY Biomass describes organic matter that is used to Combined Cycle is an electric generating technology produce synthetic fuels or is burned to produce energy. in which electricity is produced from otherwise lost Biomass fuels include wood waste, peat, manure, waste heat exiting from one or more gas (combustion) grain by-products and food processing wastes. turbines. The exiting heat is routed to a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) that produces steam to drive Biomethanationis a process by which organic a steam turbine to produce additional electricity. material is microbiologically converted under anaerobic conditions to biogas. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) describes a generating process that produces electricity and thermal Break fee is the fee a developer or other developing energy (such as heat or steam), used for industrial, partner may request in the context of breaking commercial, heating, or cooling purposes. While a fixed-price contract. This fee alleviates the similar to cogeneration, the term CHP is more often developer taking on all the financial risk in the applied to commercial applications, while the term event the project - due to unforeseen circumstances cogeneration is more common in industrial applications. - cannot continue its original course. Community Benefits Statement (CBS)concisely Capacity Factor is the ratio of the electrical summarises the outcome of a project and its beneficial energy produced by a generating unit for a given impact on a particular community. In the context of the period of time to the electrical energy that could Small Scale Generation Regulation, CBS are used when have been produced at continuous full-power the project is owned and operated by a single entity. operation during the same period of time. Community Benefits Agreement (CBA)is a legally Capacity is the maximum sustainable amount of electric enforceable agreement between several parties involved energy that can be carried or delivered in a second under in a project that outlines the transaction between the ideal circumstances. Capacity is a term that can be applied parties and the expected benefits that will be exchanged. to a transmission system or to a piece of equipment, In some cases CBAs may be embedded in a development such as a generating unit, electric service or appliance. agreement, however there are many examples where It is measured in watts, kilowatts or megawatts. multiple parties sign a separate CBA that involves Capacity Market is a market where electricity producers community coalitions that seek benefits from a project. receive contracts for the availability of their capacity The parties may also summarise the CBA in a simplified to guarantee a certain amount of reliable generation in Community Benefits Statement to increase transparency the future. The generator is also paid for the electricity and as a tool for quantifying deliverable benefits. it produces, however the capacity market provides Community Energy Plan (CEP) is also known as a strategic a degree of revenue stability to the generator. energy plan or a community energy and emissions plan. A Centralised Generation/Centralised Energy Production CEP identifies a community’s energy goals and priorities, is when electricity generation