TORONTO—Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) have announced $37 million in funding to be spent on local energy projects across the province.
The pilot projects are intended to manage electricity demand on the local and provincial electricity grid, stated a recent release.
The funding will support projects to be undertaken by such partners and owners as Enel X North America, at 11 sites; Essex Powerlines, NODES, Essex Energy Corp. and Utilismart Corp., in Leamington; Toronto Hydro, Power Advisory LLC and the Ryerson Centre for Urban Energy, in Toronto; and Peak Power Inc., Oshawa Power and Utilities Corp. and Ontario Tech University in Oshawa.
The Leamington project aims to develop a local electricity market for Windsor-Essex involving Essex Powerlines customers.
In Toronto, the partners are attempting to demonstrate the benefits of simultaneously providing local and provincial capacity. They will try to determine how a local distribution company can run a local demand response program while simultaneously providing capacity to the provincial grid from the same resources.
The participants in the dual nine-megawatt demand response program include consumers who can reduce their electricity use during times of high demand. Participating customers will have access to a new revenue stream for services to both the local distribution system and the provincial grid.
“Bold action is required by the sector to unlock new ways of enabling the flow of electricity,” stated Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines in a statement. “We are proud to be working collaboratively with the IESO, OEB, our partners and Torontonians to power transformation as we build the local interactive grid and utility of the future.”
The Oshawa project will investigate the capabilities of a group of distributed energy resources such as eight electric vehicle chargers, two 500-kilowatt battery storage systems, a 2.4-megawatt combined heat and power generator and solar array at Ontario Tech University to provide local and provincial grid services.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed