By Paul Morden, from www.theobserver.ca The Observer
Technology that helps balance second-to-second fluctuations in the supply and demand on Ontario’s electricity distribution grid will get a tryout in St. Clair Township.
Ontario Power Generation announced Thursday it will be leasing out one acre of land at its Lambton Generating Station site near Courtright for the construction of the 2 MW flywheel facility.
It’s an initiative of Toronto-based NRStor Inc., for Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the system operator for Ontario’s power grid.
Flywheel-based electricity storage works by converting the rotational energy stored in a flywheel into electricity, allowing energy to be stored and released into the distribution system when needed on a moment’s notice.
“This regulation service is that kind of fine-tuning response that meets those little gaps, on a second-to-second basis,” said IESO spokesperson Martine Holmsen.
The NRStor Inc. project is one of three announced Thursday by IESO following a request for proposals it issue earlier this year.
“Real-time, real-world experience with new sources of regulation will allow us to see how non-traditional resources behave,” said the operator’s CEO Paul Murphy.
Negotiations are currently underway with NRStor Inc., for a three-year contact, according to an IESO press release.
The project will be leasing one acre at the generation station site for three years, said Neal Kelly, spokesperson for Ontario Power Generation.
A small facility is expected to be built to demonstrate the flywheel technology aimed at helping IESO match electricity generation with demand.
“We want to integrate it into our system to see how it works,” said Holmsen.
“What we’re looking at is diversifying our base for regulation service so we have more suppliers to call on.”
The IESO press release said regulation service is becoming increasingly important to facilitate more renewable resources with variable output, such as wind and solar.
It is not clear how many jobs the project will create.
Company representatives were not immediately available for comment.
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