New Modelling: Wind and Batteries Meet Manitoba Power Needs at Lower Cost Than Gas

August 2026

New modelling of Manitoba’s electricity options was undertaken by energy modelling specialist Alexander Hogeveen Rutter, who worked on Manitoba Hydro’s 2014 Needs For and Alternatives To (NFAT). It shows that Manitoba Hydro’s models underestimate the reliability of wind generation paired with battery storage, which can meet worst-case winter peaks at a lower cost than the proposed gas power plant.

Three Key Findings 

• Geographically diversified wind generation has far higher winter firm reliability than Manitoba Hydro assumes.
• A combination of wind generation (and even solar generation) with 750 MW of battery energy storage (BESS) can meet worst-case winter peaks
  in all modelled scenarios more reliably than gas generation.
• Plans that prioritize wind/solar generation and BESS are substantially cheaper than a new gas plant, even before tax credits and higher gas
  turbine costs.