Making yogurt with batteries — a vision of Ontario’s net zero future

(read the original article at The Toronto Star)

Batteries at Etobicoke dairy and beyond let companies cut bills and gas-plant emissions while protecting power supply.

Towering over the Lactalis dairy in Etobicoke are two giant metal silos filled with cream ready to be cultured into yogurt.

Tucked into the shade beneath them is a white shipping container filled with batteries ready to step in at a moment’s notice and power the entire plant.

The industrial-scale batteries are an innovative way one of Canada’s oldest businesses is using technology to save money, reduce its carbon footprint and relieve pressure on the electrical grid. Deployed widely, these kinds of batteries could play a significant role in reducing Canada’s carbon emissions and building a net-zero economy.

The Lactalis batteries kick in whenever there’s a micro-outage — a tiny fluctuation in the power feeding the plant — that can reduce the temperature of the pasteurization process and wreck an entire batch of yogurt.

They also activate when the grid is straining under peak demand, and the province activates its fleet of emissions-intensive natural gas generators, powering the plant autonomously and freeing up power for others.

The combined savings from not paying for power at peak rates — a premium which generates up to 70 per cent of the electricity bills for large, industrial users — and not having to dispose of up to 10 spoiled batches of yogurt per year adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual savings.

“We have the benefit of running the plant when the power goes off — that’s very, very important — and reducing carbon and energy to help the planet,” said Maurizio Bizzarri, director of corporate engineering at Lactalis Canada.

The battery system was installed at no cost to Lactalis through a partnership with Peak Power, a Toronto-based company that operates the batteries, as well as Switch Power, an Alberta-based power producer which financed the capital costs…

(Read the remainder of the article at The Toronto Star)