Agenda
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Welcome and opening remarks
Wednesday, April 16 8:00 AM - 8:15 AM
Health and Safety moment
Indigenous Blessing
Opening Remarks
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Opening panel - Eye-opener: Is stakeholder engagement the secret to operational success?
Wednesday, April 16 8:15 AM - 9:15 AM
Renewable and energy storage operators understandably prioritize maximizing production and minimizing downtime. However, achieving a truly successful project requires considering a range of additional factors. The Summit’s opening panel will examine how actively engaging diverse stakeholder communities can be a key strategy for reducing operational risks, both in the immediate term and over the long run.
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Elevator Pitches
Wednesday, April 16 9:15 AM - 9:35 AM
Four companies will pitch their products in a rapid-fire style.
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Workshop - Growth opportunity: Vegetation management workshop for solar operators
Wednesday, April 16 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Vegetation management is a constant thorn in the side of solar operators, yet there’s no universal solution. The best strategy depends on the local climate, soil acidity, topography, vegetation zones, growing season length, municipal regulations, site layout, row spacing, tracking systems, panel height, and other factors. This workshop will feature an interactive discussion of participants’ experiences in the field.
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Technical panel - Getting more out of your Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS)
Wednesday, April 16 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS) are well-recognized by wind operators as essential tools for predictive maintenance. But how confident are you that you're fully leveraging the capabilities of your CMS? This panel will explore innovative ways to integrate these systems, benefit from advanced features like temperature mapping and blade failure detection, and demonstrate their value to your insurance providers.
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Elevator Pitches
Wednesday, April 16 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM
Four companies will pitch their products in a rapid-fire style.
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Workshop - Troubleshooting: Anomalous gassing in transformers
Wednesday, April 16 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Anomalous gassing in inverter-connected transformers can occur on both solar and wind sites. This workshop will present findings from the IEEE Transformer Committee, including the relevant Standards for sourcing specialized transformers. Case studies will illustrate the detection, diagnosis and root-cause analysis of failures, as well as the corrective actions taken, and best practices to prevent similar issues in the future.
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Technical panel - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The practical side of sustainability
Wednesday, April 16 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM
Embracing sustainability on clean energy generation sites is not only good for the environment, but it also lowers our operational risks by making us more flexible and efficient. This panel will explore various sustainability practices—such as minimizing wear and tear through smart operational choices, reusing spare parts from other sites or industries, and recycling, refurbishing or repairing your own equipment—and their operational impacts and benefits.
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Workshop - Official Launch: Electricity Human Resources Canada’s new report, "Winds of Change: Labour Market Dynamics in Renewable Energy"
Wednesday, April 16 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
CanREA is proud to host the launch of Electricity Human Resources Canada (EHRC)’s new, comprehensive study of labour trends and developments in Canada’s renewable energy sector from 2023 to 2028. EHRC will present their key findings and facilitate a round-table discussion exploring what these trends mean for Canadian renewable operators: How should we address our workforce needs going forward?
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Technical panel - "When do I turn this thing on?” Optimizing energy storage operations
Wednesday, April 16 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
While wind and solar assets are “always on,” the operating schedule for energy storage assets is more complex: Do you charge up and wait for grid demand, engage in market arbitrage, or provide grid-support services, like frequency control? How do you balance financial gain against asset degradation, knowing each battery has a limited number of charging cycles? This panel will discuss all these questions and more!
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Networking reception
Wednesday, April 16 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Don’t miss this fun and casual opportunity to catch up with other operators from a wide cross-section of Canada’s renewable energy and energy storage industries.
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Plenary session - Engaging our communities to improve our emergency preparedness and emergency response
Thursday, April 17 8:15 AM - 9:15 AM
This panel will feature lessons learned from a major incident at an Offshore wind farm. Drawing on this example, the panelists will discuss the importance of emergency preparedness and making the community a part of your emergency response plan
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Elevator Pitches
Thursday, April 17 9:15 AM - 9:35 AM
Four companies will pitch their products in a rapid-fire style.
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Workshop - Quality control: Bringing the international APQP4Wind system to Canada
Thursday, April 17 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
For decades, APQP4 has been the quality-performance backbone for automotive manufacturers and suppliers, facilitating communication between stakeholders at every stage of the product-development process from conception to production, and ensuring that requirements are met. It has now been adapted to the wind industry as APQP4Wind. This workshop will introduce the concept and discuss its potential benefits for the wind industry in Canada.
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Technical panel - Bird’s eye view: Tools, technologies and trends in aerial imaging
Thursday, April 17 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Aerial imaging is a valuable tool in the solar operator’s toolkit. This panel discussion will present various collection methods, including airplane flyovers, drones operated by site staff, and turnkey services, explore their technical capabilities, such as thermographic imaging and high-resolution digital captures, and examine how AI and specialized software can enhance image analysis, simplify workflows and improve decision-making.
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Closing plenary - Ontario in focus: How operators will advance Ontario’s energy transition
Thursday, April 17 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
The government of Ontario is set to launch the largest expansion of non-emitting generation in a decade. This significant opportunity for renewables and energy storage will rely on operators’ success in engaging key stakeholders, host communities and First Nations. This closing plenary will explore how operators can play a critical role in advancing the energy transition in Ontario.