Neoen to build its biggest battery to shift energy to evening peak in nuclear-dominated Ontario
French renewable energy company Neoen has announced plans to build its biggest battery project to date – a 400 MW, four hour battery (1600 MWh) to shift excess energy to the evening peak in the nuclear dominated Canadian state of Ontario.
Neoen has created a new subsidiary company called Shift Solar to build the Grey Owl battery project, which was one of 10 storage projects that won capacity contracts offered by Ontario’s Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO) in the largest battery storage procurement in Canada’s history.
The Grey Owl Storage project will boast a total nameplate capacity of 400MW/1,600MWh, of which 380MW and four hours of storage (1520 MWH) has been contracted to the IESO over a period of 20 years, providing grid stability and reliability services.
“The battery will be able to charge during off-peak hours and redistribute the stored energy back into the grid at peak times, when it is needed most,” Neoen said in a statement.
Ontario’s grid is dominated by nuclear power, which provides 53 per cent of its electricity. Solar provides less than one per cent of grid production and wind less than 8.2 per cent, underlying the fact that even grids dominated by less flexible “baseload” power need, or want, battery storage to shift excess power to where it is needed most.
