SunEdison Inc. has signed a 10-year agreement with Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to supply 5 MW – or 20 MWh – of battery storage to the province.
In addition to leveraging the battery's storage capability, the IESO intends to use data from the project to analyze how storage can be used to smooth the power flow from wind and solar, defer expensive system upgrades, and ultimately, shape the future of its grid.
This project is SunEdison's first commercial, large-scale, grid-connected energy storage project and is one of the first commercial applications of flow batteries in Canada, according to the renewable energy development company.
SunEdison is working with Imergy to deliver the project. Imergy's vanadium redox flow battery technology provides a cost-effective and durable way to store energy for hours at a time, says SunEdison.
‘By integrating energy storage into their grid, the Ontario IESO gains access to a powerful new tool that has the potential to transform how it operates the power system,’ explains Tim Derrick, SunEdison's general manager of advanced solutions.
The developer plans to start construction of the project during the first half of 2017, with completion targeted for later that year. Operations and maintenance of the battery systems will be performed by SunEdison Services.
‘SunEdison's energy storage project is one of several projects that will support reliability in Ontario by providing much-needed quick-response capacity and operational flexibility,’ adds Bruce Campbell, Ontario IESO's president and CEO.
