Live From CanREA – Renewables Go Big In Canada At ETC23!

Last week, Allen and Joel attended Electricity Transformation Canada 2023 in chilly Calgary! Bundle up as the guys discuss the latest innovations in wind, solar, storage and transmission tech on the exhibit floor. They'll also sit down with organizer Traci Huggans to understand how this major industry event comes together. Why were so few American firms attendance? With high, stable electricity prices and growing demand, they discuss why our northern neighbor presents an untapped business opportunity.



Book your booth for ETC 2024! https://electricitytransformation.ca/exhibit/



Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!



Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com



Allen Hall: I'm Allen Hall. Welcome back to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. Last week, Joel Saxum and I were at the CanREA, Canadian Renewable Energy Association's Electricity Transformation 2023 event. And we had a couple of conversations on the floor with a number of companies, and you'll hear those over the next couple of weeks.



This week, you hear Joel and I talk about what's happening on the show floor and our impressions of everything that's happening in Canada, even though it's a small snapshot of all the exciting new things that are happening in Canada. And we also speak with Traci Huggans, who's the manager of international events and membership marketing with RE+ who helped organize the ETC23 conference.



So this is a really good episode because we had not been to Canada before to see all the renewable energy projects that are happening and it was a good experience and we were hosted by, of course, AC883, who does wind turbine blade repair in Canada and also in the United States and does a lot of pitch alignment.



So if you're interested in pitch alignment, you should probably give those guys a call at AC883. All right. Stay tuned. This is a really good episode. I hope you enjoy it.



Allen Hall: Joel and I are in Calgary, Alberta, in the middle of a snowstorm.



Joel Saxum: They said it was going to be beautiful when we got here.



Allen Hall: There is very little sunshine, and there's definitely no beach.



Joel Saxum: Yeah, we were trying to think of alternative locations for the Canadian Renewable Association event in the end of October, and I don't think there is any unless we start jumping to a different country.



Allen Hall: Yeah, we've got to get down to Toronto, someplace where it's warm. But we're at Electricity Transformation Canada 2023. So this is the big renewables conference for Canada. And we've been walking the floor the last couple of hours and noticing all the different kinds of businesses that are involved in renewable energy.



And solar is huge in Canada, clearly.



Joel Saxum: Yeah, big time. You're seeing a lot of not a whole lot of brand new technology. A lot of companies that Are offering services or offering solutions but not like someone going, Hey, we've got this brand new fancy thing. Quite a bit of solar, quite a bit of solar.



So walking around, Allen and I did a lap here as we do at trade shows. And we saw quite a few solar racking companies, solar development companies some permitting companies as well. Which turns out to be a little bit of a different challenge once you're here in Canada, as opposed to the U. S.



Allen Hall: Yeah the province to province issues.



It appears to be big.



Joel Saxum: Yeah, it's something that we don't think about in the U. S. as much because when you go state to state in the U.