1:30 PM – 2:30 PM ET
Join us for the second webinar in the Open Insights series, where we explore how linking models can unlock richer, more comprehensive insights into Canada’s energy and economic futures. This session will spotlight an emerging linkage between three complementary models—CIMS, COPPER, and SILVER—that together offer a more integrated view of policy impacts, system operations, and infrastructure needs.
We’ll walk through a real-world use case that demonstrates how these models interact, enabling analysts to trace outcomes from behavioural and sectoral shifts all the way to system-level costs and operational impacts. This approach helps bridge the gap between economic modelling and electricity system planning—supporting better-informed, cross-cutting decisions.
Questions the linkage is designed to answer:
- Is there a Canadian net-zero scenario that keeps electricity rates affordable? What are its characteristics?
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How do demand-side policies, such as zero emission vehicle mandates, affect required investments into the grid?
The models
- CIMS: A technology-rich partial-equilibrium energy–economy model developed at Simon Fraser University. CIMS simulates the supply–demand dynamics of key sectors and will be released open-source for the first time through Open Insights.
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COPPER: The Canadian Opportunities for Planning and Production of Electricity Resources framework is a long-term electricity system planning model that minimizes total system costs over time.
- SILVER: The Strategic Integration of Large-capacity Variable Energy Resources tool optimizes dispatch across a user-defined electricity system, including generation, storage, demand response, and transmission.