Sault Ste Marie Piloting 7 MW Energy Storage System

February 2, 2017

A new pilot project in Sault Ste. Marie will study the viability of a lithium-ion battery energy storage system, reports Lindsay Kelly in Northern Ontario Business.

The storage system is being supplied by General Electric, and the facility is being built by Convergent Energy + Power. The system will have a storage capacity of 7 megawatts. 

Representing a $2-million investment, the system will store energy produced by the city’s existing solar and wind farms. Construction is expected to be complete by April, and the system will become operational by May. The facility is being built beside the city’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC), and uses IESO transmission infrastructure.

The company has a three-year contract with the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to supply power to the Ontario grid. However, the system has a lifespan of between 10 and 20 years, and could be expanded.

According to Tremor Temchin, Convergent’s Director of Canadian Operations, the battery would typically charge at night when energy is cheaper and demand is low, and then discharge energy during the day, during peak times when production is high.

Temchin estimates the project will inject about $2 million into the city’s economy. A number of local companies have already been contracted for design, engineering and construction services, including STEM Engineering Group, WSP, S&T Group, N-Sci Technologies, and SalDan Construction Group.

With offices in New York and Toronto, Convergent has a handful of energy-storage projects across North America that are in progress or up and running. The Sault Ste. Marie project will be one of the first such projects to be operational in Canada.

Find out more: www.convergentep.com/projects/.