Lesley Gallinger is President and CEO of Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) in Ontario. – Photo courtesy IESO
Ontario has secured 640 megawatts of new battery storage through three projects that will be running by 2030. The price came in 36 per cent lower than the same kind of procurement two years ago.
A battery storage facility is essentially a large bank of batteries connected to the grid. It charges up when demand is low and feeds power back in during peak hours, when families are home cooking dinner and running air conditioning. The new capacity will support roughly 640,000 homes at peak.
“Today we are taking another step to support the province’s economic future, with three new energy storage projects that will meet the province’s electricity needs in the 2030s and beyond,” said Lesley Gallinger, President and CEO of the Independent Electricity System Operator. “With demand for electricity continuing to rise in the coming decades, our cadenced, competitive approach to procurements is continuing to deliver cost-effective results.”
Ontario’s electricity demand is projected to rise by as much as 90 per cent by 2050, and the procurement is part of a diversified strategy that pairs storage with new natural gas, nuclear, and hydro. This is the kind of build engaged Canadian women have told us they want: more reliable power, lower household costs, and a system designed to keep up with how Canadians actually live.