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Battery Storage
Learn more about battery energy storage systems
Electricity Storage Explained
When Ontario’s electricity grid needs more power (for instance on the hottest days of the year), the IESO turns to on-demand resources, like energy storage, to support Provincial electricity needs. Decentralized energy storage infrastructure can prevent emergency grid events such as rolling blackouts and help defer more capital-intensive system upgrades that directly impact ratepayers. Ideally, BESS sites are located near electricity substations or 3-phase power lines to improve overall efficiencies.
Although energy storage comes in different shapes and sizes, the Battery Energy Storage System (“BESS”) is the fastest emerging technology in North America and is planned to be deployed in the Municipality of Bayham with the Erie Shores BESS Project.
Provincial Electricity Needs
Ontario is entering a period of emerging electricity system needs driven by increasing residential and commercial demand due to the electrification of the automotive sector, growth of the agriculture sector, the retirement of the Pickering nuclear plant and refurbishment of other nuclear-generating plants, and expiring contracts for existing facilities.
In response, the IESO is conducting procurements, including the LT1 Request for Proposals (“LT1 RFP”), to secure more than 2,518 MW of capacity in Ontario. Facilities that successfully demonstrate their capabilities will be contracted in 2024, with operations starting by 2028.
The Erie Shores BESS project, among other electricity storage sites, will help address emerging global and regional electricity needs for the coming decades.