January 2, 2017

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held last month at Veridian’s corporate headquarters in Ajax to officially launch the utility’s multi-phased microgrid pilot project.

The project supports widespread deployment of renewable generation, microgrids and electric vehicle technology that will exhibit how the growing deployment of such systems will benefit the environment through reduced air pollution and GHG emissions.

On hand for the official launch were Veridian President and CEO Michael Angemeer and representatives from the companies selected to help deploy and support the pilot project: Joshua Wong, President and CEO, Opus One Solutions, and Leonard Allen, President and CEO, Solera Sustainable Energies Company Limited.

The 3-phase pilot project began with Canada’s first utility installation of Tesla Powerwalls at Veridian’s headquarters. A more recent addition of a solar powered carport canopy equipped with Multiple Level 2 Electric Vehicle Chargers and a Level 3 Fast Charger marked the completion of phase 2. The final phase will see the deployment of residential microgrids involving homebuilders, managed and operated by Veridian’s 24/7 System Control Centre and controlled by Opus One’s GridOS Microgrid Energy Management System.

“Our ultimate goal is to demonstrate and evaluate the benefits of microgrids, battery storage, renewable energy and electric vehicles for our residential customers, and make progress towards net-zero homes and eventually virtual power plants — providing direct benefits and expanded services to our customers,” said Angemeer. “It’s important to test out flexible systems in the home or business and connections to our System Control Centre from a technical and customer interface perspective to allow the optimal sharing of benefits between the customer and the utility.”

“This project exhibits an important milestone in the move towards a diversified and optimized electricity system, incorporating clean solar electricity and sustainable transportation,” said Leonard Allen, President and CEO of Solera.

Veridian Connections, serving more than 120,000 residential and business customers, is about to become the fifth largest municipally owned electric utility in Ontario after the merger of large utilities west of Toronto is completed. The City of Pickering, the Town of Ajax, the Municipality of Clarington and the City of Belleville jointly own Veridian Corporation, the parent company to Veridian Connections. The utility now serves nine communities east and north of Toronto.

Opus One Solutions is a software engineering and solutions company. Through GridOS, its intelligent energy networking platform, Opus One optimizes complex power flows so that it can deliver real-time energy management to distribution utilities and other managers of distributed energy assets. GridOS is modular, scalable, and integrates seamlessly with existing data systems to unlock greater potential for distributed energy resources, including renewable generation, energy storage and responsive demand. GridOS also facilitates the management of microgrids, from homes to businesses to communities.

Solera Sustainable Energies specializes in the planning, engineering, construction, finance and operational management of distributed renewable energy assets.