Ontario’s Economic Growth Will Need Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES)

By Justin Rangooni
Executive Director, Energy Storage Canada

After years of consistency, in the next three decades Ontario’s energy sector and its electricity grid are expected to undergo a substantial transformation, which of course leaves a lot of room for innovation. While all types and technologies of energy storage are seeing substantial innovation in their composition and application, long duration energy storage (LDES) is perhaps seeing more than others, because there are far fewer instances of LDES assets having been deployed or connected to major grids, apart from pumped hydro.

However, even with fewer instances of deployment to date, data indicates long duration storage is to be critical to the future changes to Ontario’s grid as the province, like many regions, prepares to secure two or three times its current generating capacity, while still achieving its ambitious decarbonization goals.

Changing the blend of resources supplying energy to the province, with an emphasis on non-emitting resources – including renewables like wind, solar, and hydro, new grid-scale and small modular nuclear assets, and emerging resources like hydrogen and geothermal – is going to be a major challenge. As we electrify heating and transportation, the frequently simultaneous demand for charging EVs or powering heat pumps is going to drive unprecedented levels of peak electricity demand that will compound the strain on our power grids.

As Ontario brings on more generation capacity, and electricity demand reaches new levels, the province will require a greater variety of energy storage resources to ensure Ontario has the power it needs when it needs it. Long duration assets – broadly defined as assets capable of discharging energy for a period of ten or more hours – will be a key component of this mix.

In fact, a recent report commissioned by Energy Storage Canada (ESC) and prepared by Dunsky Energy & Climate Advisors, identifies a minimum of 6 gigawatts (GW) of +10-hour duration energy storage starting in 2032, could be mitigate potential supply, planning and deployment risks and achieve savings between $11 billion to $20 billion compared to Ontario’s current transition plans.

Fortunately, in recent years the Government of Ontario worked closely with the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to adopt an ambitious approach to regulatory and market reforms to enable the deployment of energy storage resources (ESRs). The province achieved a major milestone last summer with the IESO’s procurement of over 880 MW of energy storage capacity, the largest in Canada – and as the initial stage of an ultimately 2,500 MW addition, one of the most ambitious such initiatives anywhere in North America. A 2022 report commissioned by ESC indicates the province could need as much as 4 to 6 gigawatts (GW) of short-duration storage – generally defined as assets capable of discharging energy for 6 hours or less – as part of Ontario’s path to net zero.

However, as Ontario brings on more non-emitting generation, particularly intermittent resources (such as wind or solar) and peak demand reaches new levels, the province will need a more substantial inventory of LDES resources to ensure its grid continues to be reliable when the wind isn’t blowing, and the sun isn’t shining.

Energy Storage Canada’s report is the first to go beyond speculating the potential use cases for LDES technologies to research the potential scope of investment for Ontario as the province decarbonizes, with the modelling provided by Dunsky Energy & Climate Advisors, which illustrates the specific advantages investment in LDES assets can provide.

Using as a baseline the IESO’s Pathways to Decarbonization (P2D) study from December 2022, Dunsky analyzed the likeliest risks in those scenarios, quantifying the cost of falling short in our planning, procurement, construction, and import objectives compared to the alternative cost of procuring LDES assets. Evaluating by the technical readiness and value proposition of LDES as a ‘guardrail’ for Ontario’s economic growth and decarbonization journey, Dunsky found that a minimum of 6 GW of LDES capacity would be economically beneficial starting in 2032.

However, LDES technologies generally have long lead-times for development, meaning that to ensure the assets are available when we need them, we need to start planning now. As the province’s grid undergoes a massive transformation and modernization in the coming decades to meet its energy needs, integrating new assets in new ways, the importance of pursuing innovative solutions and technologies, such as long duration energy storage, will become increasingly important. While 2032 is 8 years away, the time to act is now.

To that end, Energy Storage Canada is calling on the IESO to make a formal commitment this year for initiating a procurement process in 2025, with a 6 GW target. Critical factors such as the availability of Canada’s Clean Technology Investment Tax Credits (ITCs) for projects completed prior to 2032, the extensive lead time necessary for prospective proponents to develop positive relationships with Ontario municipalities, to develop equitable and beneficial partnerships with the province’s First Nations communities, and secure supply chain commitments in a competitive global market all demonstrate the need to begin the process now.

Energy Storage Canada and our members look forward to continuing the work with the Ministry of Energy and the IESO to further develop the innovative research related to long duration energy storage, and all storage technologies. The integration of LDES has the potential to build on Ontario’s energy storage advantage, ensuring the province continues to have a reliable, sustainable, flexible, energy supply in the decades to come.

Smart Operation of Energy Storage Resources is Key to Industry Success - 2022 Pioneer in Energy Storage

by: Cam Carver, President | Workbench Energy | 2022 Pioneer in Energy Storage Award Recipient

The energy storage industry in Canada has come a long way in a short time.  When I led the founding of Energy Storage Canada (then Energy Storage Ontario) as its first Chair in 2012, our goal was to raise awareness of this emerging technology class and to advocate for a place in the electricity market for energy storage.  Through the work of Energy Storage Canada, system operators, and other stakeholders, much has been achieved in the past decade.  Today, energy storage is taking a front and centre position as a key energy technology that will help meet growing demand levels while enabling the decarbonization of Canada’s power grids.  To complete the success story of energy storage in Canada, the industry must now prioritize the smart operation of these unique resources to ensure they deliver on their full potential.

Every day at Workbench Energy, we provide market operations services to a wide range of grid assets in Ontario including front-of-meter energy storage plants, dispatchable loads, and gas-fired generators. Each resource class has its own set of contract structures, market rules, and IT interfaces with the system operator which, together with internal considerations, provide a blueprint for their operations. 

Following recent and current procurements for front of the meter energy storage plants in Ontario, large scale energy storage systems will begin coming online in the Province in the 2025 timeframe and will continue arriving for years to come.  As it stands, an enduring model for the smart operation of these facilities will not be ready.  Energy storage systems will initially operate under the interim energy storage framework, as it does today, whereby energy storage is considered as both a dispatchable load for charging and a dispatchable generator for discharging.  While this provides “a” participation model, it doesn’t appreciate many of energy storage’s unique characteristics, such as a rapid response and quick duration capabilities, or state-of-charge status.  Energy storage operators will continue to operate under the interim energy storage framework beyond the launch of the Market Renewal Project (MRP), currently scheduled for implementation in mid 2025, with new added complexities of the new market design.  As currently planned, the focus of an enduring energy storage model will only be prioritized, planned, and implemented following the launch of MRP.

The reward of accelerating a smart enduring model for energy storage in-line with the launch of MRP is considerable.  New energy storage facility owners can invest with confidence in their IT integrations and long-term operating plans with less concern about complexities of multiple market design changes in the early years of the projects.  The IESO can expect access to greater capabilities and more operational transparency from energy storage resources.  Energy storage market participants can integrate with the IESO with fewer manual interventions as current and planned IESO IT systems and rules don’t square with the realities of operating storage plants.  Ultimately, we need energy storage to deliver on its full potential from the beginning of the new market design so it can fully demonstrate its ability to drive down costs, improve system reliability and operate to reduce emissions.   A smart and enduring participation model is critical to the success of the energy storage industry in Ontario and for shaping a future provincial power grid that will be a model for the rest of Canada and jurisdictions around the world.

Thoughts From the 2022 Champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Energy Storage

By Peak Power

It’s been almost a full year since Peak Power was selected for the first annual Champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Energy Storage Award at last year’s Energy Storage Canada (ESC) Conference. Per ESC’s website, the award aims to recognize corporations that consistently advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion within their organization or the industry broadly.

In the case of Peak Power, we’ve built diversity into our hiring and internal processes, putting policy into practice.

When hiring, tools such as Gender Decoder are leveraged to detect and correct potentially gendered language in the job description and its corresponding responsibilities. We’ve learned that gendered language has the ability to discourage certain groups, particularly women, from applying to an open job posting. We also targeted recruitment from a range of diverse talent pools: searching job boards, engaging with networking groups, and attending hiring events that focus on marginalized groups.

Additionally, all candidates are asked in their pre-screening process what DEI means to them to ensure the individuals joining our teams share our outlook on the importance of DEI, bringing diverse perspectives and fostering an inclusive environment.

Peak Power’s investment in DEI is present at every step of our team members’ career journeys.

We’ve partnered with consultants like Nomandin Beaudry to create a compensation and career framework to balance our company’s external competitiveness with internal equity.

Another key tool is our JEDI – Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusivity – Committee, which sets annual goals for the organization and facilitates fun and educational programming for team members to ensure everyone is continuing to develop their skills and knowledge of DEI.

One new initiative this year is our monthly Pod-lunch sessions. We listen to a half-hour podcast together during lunch, either in person or remote. Each podcast focuses on a DEI subject, often with a tie-in to sustainability. This is followed by breakout groups where team members can share their thoughts in a safe, moderated setting.

Even as we look ahead, our team at Peak Power aims to continue our commitment to DEI. We’ve already done a lot to ensure that DEI is an integral part of everything we do at Peak Power, but we want to do even more.

We’ve designed governance for committees to provide more structure around term limits and committee roles to ensure that more staff are able to participate and offer their perspectives.

We’re working to align our performance management process with our core values, which counsels team members to “do everything with integrity and make a positive impact on people and the planet.” This focus ensures we’re measuring and supporting the traits we want to emphasize in the company’s culture.

Managers receive training on unconscious bias to ensure they are cognizant of unintentional prejudices that could influence employee reviews. DEI surveys are performed regularly to refresh and refine our goals and action items to capitalize on areas of opportunity.

The emphasis on DEI when Peak Power was founded was pragmatic. We began as a diverse company, and we attribute our success to the diversity of backgrounds and life experiences that constantly bring new ways of thinking to our teams. Diversity promotes innovation and ensures the company stays competitive and a great place to work! However, even if it was there from the beginning, our commitment to DEI requires work, continued learning, and the right tools.

Peak Power’s DEI program and the policies incorporated because of its efforts contribute to a working environment valuing fairness, opportunities, resources, and a voice for employees.

We appreciate the recognition of the effort we’ve made at Peak Power through ESC’s Champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award and we look forward to opportunities to share our work again in the future.

Peak Power is an energy storage software company founded in 2015 operating in Ontario, New York, New England, and California. If you’d like to learn more about Peak Power’s JEDI initiative or any other element of their company, be sure to reach out or read more at their blog.

Insights – 2022 Pioneer in Energy Storage Award Recipient

By Annette Verschuren,
CEO, NRStor Inc

It was a thrill to receive the Pioneer of Energy Storage Award last year. What a journey it’s been since we started our company in 2012.  Energy storage was not a common concept back then and there was literally no market to sell the service into. 

Energy storage will change the face of every power grid in the world. 

We pioneered as a flywheel technology developer with Temporal Power and again with a fuel free compressed air energy storage facility with Hydrostor. They were small but significant projects that we negotiated with the IESO. With our MPower company we have been installing powerwalls since 2014 across the country. We built out our Commercial & Industrial NRStor business, which was eventually sold to Blackstone, in 2020. We learned a lot, made mistakes, solved them, pivoted, and kept focused and determined to grow our company. 

The industry needs to continue to innovate on business models to extract the most value from this new asset class to benefit ratepayers, and share assets for best and highest use.

One of our proudest moments for NRStor however was closing the Oneida project, standing next to our development partner Six Nations of the Grand River, a six-year development journey. Aecon worked side by side with us over the last 4 years and then Northland Power and Aecon joined us as our equity partners.  Northland Power is the major shareholder of the Oneida project and are strong and engaged partners.  The Canada Investment Bank and NRCAN were instrumental in getting this deal done.  

Unlocking the indigenous potential to power Canada’s net zero economy is what Oneida is all about.  I challenge the business community to treat indigenous potential not as an ESG/CSR file but a core strategy.  We need to provide equity opportunity for indigenous communities for sustainable economic and social growth.  

I also commend the provincial government and the IESO for moving energy storage ahead on the agenda.  Ontario will be home to the largest energy storage facilities in Canada.  We always say that the regions with the most storage will have the most flexibility in how energy is distributed and traded.  The electricity/energy market will double and triple over the next decade.  

But there is more work to do.  We must do our best to avoid new investments in carbon producing assets.  We must work to enhance the supply chain to get Canada’s valuable minerals extracted, refined to the highest value product to feed the supply chain needs of batteries globally, maximizing our country’s participation and value creation. 

We have to deploy more storage on a decentralized basis to help us maximize the use of our constrained power grid and avoid needing to overbuild our systems to meet peak needs – we can lower ratepayer costs if we do this right, with all forms of storage, while we support and enable the economy to fully decarbonize itself.  

And on a personal note, these are such exciting times. Energy Storage Canada plays a critical role in defining the pathway of the energy storage industry.  What a great organization!  I’m proud to have pushed for the creation of this organization in the early years…… you are great pioneers and innovators.

Let’s Talk About BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems)

By Leone King,
Communications Manager, Energy Storage Canada

Canada’s current installed capacity of energy storage is approximately 1 GW.

Per Energy Storage Canada’s 2022 report, Energy Storage: A Key Net Zero Pathway in Canada, Canada is going to need at least 8 – 12 GW to ensure the country reaches its 2035 goals.

While the gap to close between the above values is substantial, the last year has seen several landmark developments for the industry in Canada with the 2023 Federal Budget detailing three refundable investment tax credits available to a diverse range of energy storage technologies, the announcement of the 250MW Oneida Energy Storage project partners achieving financial close, and the announcement of the first gigawatt of Ontario’s projects to meet their procurement for 2.5MW of storage.

Energy storage is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, even outside industry circles.

With a 68% increase in energy storage worldwide in 2022 and additional market commitments bringing the expected global installations to 130GW by 2023, its unsurprising awareness of the technology is on the rise.

Some technologies, like pumped hydro, have a long history in Canada.

Others, like battery energy storage systems (BESS) are new technologies to many and raise questions, especially as project approvals anticipate the integration of these assets into peoples’ communities.

Community members want assurances that these assets are cost-effective, provide value to the community, won’t detract from existing industry, and are safe.

Moreover, it’s important for communities to have confidence in these projects.

In terms of current BESS projects in Canada to date, most are lithium-ion based battery chemistries.

Lithium-ion systems are crucial to provide responsive and flexible power to the grid. They can help to ease constraints in areas where the grid is operating at its full capacity, balance the intermittent nature of renewable assets, and provide more consistent and cost-effective production of other generation types, such as nuclear.

Energy Storage ensures we make the best use of all the energy resources on our grid.

A lot of consideration goes into where these facilities are placed to prevent potential reliability issues in the future. Consultations are undertaken to ensure that the locations selected provide the maximum benefit for the land used, even though BESS typically have a smaller footprint than generation installations.

Additionally, while grid-scale batteries are often perceived as entirely new technology, lithium-ion systems have been operating for years.

Industry experts have dedicated a great deal of effort to learning the best ways to operate them efficiently and safely. BESS designs are perpetually being updated to reflect the most recent findings, for example, reducing the need for walk-in enclosures.

Moreover, BESS are regulated by several categories of safety standards relating to the component equipment, installation, and fire prevention safeguards. Original equipment managers (OEMs) have tested strategies and tools to ensure safe operations, such as 24/7 system monitoring, battery management, ventilation, site design, heat/smoke/gas/fire detection, advanced shutdown systems, fire suppression systems, thermal imaging and more.

Canada’s energy storage industry has a strong foundation of experience building safe and reliable systems with an extremely low risk of fire events. And Energy Storage Canada continues to work with its members and industry experts to ensure that these high standards continue to be met.

As part of that, we’re pleased to share our most recent report, commissioned by Energy Storage Canada, and completed by the engineering consulting firm, BBA, to further the knowledge of relevant stakeholders regarding best practices and recommendations for BESS today and for future proposals.

Included with an extensive compilation of background information on BESS broadly is a survey of four BESS operators and their safety records, environmental safeguards, and recommendations for what BESS projects should include. The report details both what measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of the projects and what decision-makers should be looking for in assessing proposed projects.

Ultimately, we need to continue to have the highest standards when it comes to procurement and project selection to ensure we are successful in creating a resilient, sustainable, and affordable grid for all Canadians.

We need to be sure that in every province, ratepayers and businesses have access to reliable power, even at times of peak energy use. Canadian businesses need to know their investments will be supported with enough energy to meet their needs. And governments need to know that the projects selected will support the country’s climate goals, while ensuring affordability for ratepayers.

It’s important for the public to be confident in the projects being built in their communities, to know that each project has been properly considered, and that the industry understands how high the stakes are.

Energy storage – BESS and beyond – is going to be critical to Canada’s transition, so we know we need to get these projects right. Together we will.

You can find a copy of the full report HERE on ESC’s website.

Energy Storage & Transmission: Critical Components of an Electrified Economy

By Robert Tremblay

Policy Manager, Energy Storage Canada

The grid of the future needs to be flexible.  

In recent years technological progress and ambitious climate policy have augmented improvements to both cost and performance of clean technologies like wind, solar, electric vehicles, and heat pumps.  

While these improvements promise an increased quality of life and simultaneous reduction of our collective carbon footprint, they are also poised to create an electricity system with more significant fluctuations in supply and demand. Therefore, we won’t realize the potential benefits without considerably more flexibility and resiliency in our grid to offset the bigger swings in supply and demand. 

As we achieve increased renewable integration and electrification, we will need grids able to balance stretches of low electricity supply paired with heightened demand.  

An example of the above dynamic is the dunkelflaute, a German word meaning “dark doldrums,” which refers to a time of low wind, low solar, cold temperatures, and high load. To take full advantage of the benefits electrification promises, we will need grids able to deal with situations like a dunkelflaute.  

In fact, the recently announced Canada Electricity Advisory Council is tasked with understanding how to increase reliability, and therefore flexibility, as Canada decarbonizes and expands its electricity system. Two technologies expected to be critical in meeting this challenge are interregional transmission and energy storage. 

Interregional transmission moves energy across space. Making stronger connections between grids separated by larger distances allows everyone to access a wider array of electricity resources.  

We can see examples of this in the pairing of the Pacific Northwest, California, and Manitoba with significant solar and hydropower assets, and wind heavy midwestern states like Iowa.  

The benefits of transmission between regions can be even more nuanced, enabling dynamics such as energy moving across time zones, and allowing strategies such as moving solar from the afternoon in one region to where it is evening in another.  

However, regional transmission requires significant regional cooperation and coordination, large-scale investment, and navigating the difficult permitting path for linear infrastructure to realize these benefits.  

Alternatively, energy storage moves energy across time, taking energy in now and saving it for later. Rather than moving energy to consumers in distinct locations, energy storage allows energy to be moved to customers in the future.  

There are already significant amounts of energy storage installed in the form of pumped hydro and batteries in regions like Australia, California, the European Alps, and the American Appalachians. In future we will see storage deployed through an even broader suite of technologies, such as compressed air, thermal storage, and non-lithium battery chemistries, among others. 

The ability of energy storage technologies to move energy from times of plentiful supply to times of limited supply, will be more critical than ever as the number of intermittent assets and increased electrification of the grid changes the patterns of energy availability and usage. 

The reality of electrification is that both interregional transmission and energy storage are going to be critical elements of the decarbonization and electrification of Canada’s grid.

Both technologies provide flexibility to electricity systems, which can sometimes see them characterized as competitors, particularly with terms like “non-wires alternative,” which is often used to describe energy storage.

However, the two options are more complementary than exclusionary.

Energy storage is a developing market and is just getting started in Canada. As an incumbent technology, transmission could be deployed at the scale needed, but it would become slow and increasingly cumbersome on its own.

In contrast, when deployed together these two options can complement each other and meet the needs of the system more efficiently.

Storage, particularly in the form of battery energy storage systems (BESS), can be flexible in terms of their location, scalable, and relatively quick to build, enabling immediate flexibility for clean generation load to be added. Transmission, if developed in tandem, can do so at a more moderate pace, providing the larger scale needed in the future without preventing the critical short-term needs for system flexibility to be met.

Ultimately, both interregional transmission and energy storage will be critical components of a decarbonized and electrified economy because the system will need more flexibility.

Rather than envisioning these technologies in a zero-sum battle with a single winner, we should view them as complementary pieces of the future energy system, enabling each to play to their strengths. We are going to need all the capacity both storage and transmission can provide to electrify Canada’s grid – both wires and non-wires solutions.

Taking Action on Long Duration Energy Storage

By Justin Rangooni
Executive Director, Energy Storage Canada

Across Canada we are seeing acknowledgement of the vital role energy storage will play in balancing our grids and the decarbonizing our electricity systems.

Ontario recently announced a competitive procurement for 2.5 GW of utility scale storage and saw the 250 MW Oneida Energy Storage project take another step toward commercial operation. Alberta has nearly 100 MW of installed capacity, with more than 2.5 GW in the queue to connect.

On the East Coast, we saw NB Power soliciting proposals for 50 MW energy storage projects in New Brunswick & the Government of Nova Scotia tabling amendments to the Electricity Act & providing budget funding, that would enable the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables to issue competitive procurements for energy storage.

Most of these projects – planned and installed – are short duration (4 hours or less) lithium-ion batteries, which provide much needed (and urgent in some provinces) capacity and ancillary services to keep the lights on in the next decade.

However, as system planners and decision makers across Canada continue to plan and begin to action pathways to decarbonization, it will be imperative to incorporate not just short duration, but also long duration energy storage (LDES). And these plans and actions need to happen now, given the long development timeline for long-duration technologies.

Long duration energy storage refers to the storage of large amounts of electricity for an extended period, typically ranging from several hours to days. Some of the technologies included in this category are pumped hydro electric storage, emerging battery storage, thermal storage, or compressed air energy storage (CAES).[1]

In fact, Canada has a long history with LDES, notably Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) pumped hydro storage project in Niagara Falls. And 90% of the installed energy storage capacity in operation around the world is pumped hydro storage.

Several Long duration technologies are proven and operational in electricity grids around the world. Others are close to being ready for deployment to provide benefits to our energy system and support Canada’s energy transition. ESC members are already deploying these technologies around the globe, and they’re keen to develop comparable projects here in Canada now.

That’s good, because long duration energy storage is essential if we are going to reliably integrate the diversity of generation sources necessary for a sustainable grid. LDES assets also help to balance supply and demand, which will become increasingly important with the electrification of Canada’s grid.

However, if we are going to ensure these assets are built and operating when we need them, we need to include them in our plans and actions today to enable their timely development

That’s why we kicked off 2023 by launching a new LDES Working Group for our members, which will aim to focus on securing the immediate support of decision makers to incorporate LDES in their plans and actions 

We look forward to sharing further details of the work this group will be doing because there is no net zero for Canada without energy storage – of all durations.

[1] Find more details on these different technologies from our friends at the Long Duration Energy Storage Council: http://www.ldescouncil.com/ldes-technologies/