An electricity storage system intended to help keep the local power flowing during extreme weather outages has the support of city council.
In a unanimous motion Tuesday evening, council approved a motion in support of Alectra’s proposal for consideration by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).
“New local storage assets would result in reduced outages in the community during extreme weather events, and improve Alectra’s restoration timeline when outages do happen,” states a report to council.
City staff called for council to approve a resolution in support for the effort, which staff say would improve Alectra’s chances of receiving approval.
If approved by the IESO, the project would see an up to 20 MWh system set up, allowing for the collection of energy during off-peak hours which could be discharged when needed to “balance the supply and demand of the provincial electricity grid.”
“These systems also have the capability to improve grid stability and provide backup power in some applications,” the report notes.
The battery system is proposed to take up 30,000 square feet at Alectra’s Clair Road West transformer station.
“New storage capacity will reduce Ontario’s need to rely on gas generation in the coming years,” the report adds. “Battery storage is clean and generally uses non-emitting power such as hydro, nuclear and renewables generated at off-peak times.”
Coun. Cathy Downer was absent from the meeting and Coun. Dan Gibson declared a conflict of interest on this matter.
