Ontario will soon be home to Canada’s largest battery energy storage project, and one of the largest in the world, and it will feature Tesla’s Megapack system. NRStor Inc. announced today that they have entered into an agreement to build the 250MW/1,000MWh Oneida Energy Storage Project in southwestern Ontario.
The project has been under development between NRStor and Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation since 2018, with Northland Power recently joining as an equity and operating partner.
With today’s signing of the Energy Storage Facility Agreement (ESFA) the project will now begin the construction phase. It is scheduled to be completed in 2025 where the Tesla Megapacks are expected to provide a gigawatt-hour of capacity to the Ontario grid.
The project is partially funded by Natural Resources Canada, which provided $50 million from the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways program due to it reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enabling increased renewable energy capacity to provide essential grid services to Ontario citizens.
“This is a significant day for the Oneida Energy Storage Project, and we are proud of the example it sets as a sustainable energy project with strong Indigenous partnership from Six Nations and collaboration between industry and government. We thank our many stakeholders, including the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada, whose support and investment in this Project have played a key role in bringing it to this stage,” said Annette Verschuren, Chair and CEO of NRStor in a press release. (h/t: @SawyerMerritt)
Not only will the project reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Oneida Energy Storage Project will also have benefits to ratepayers by reducing the need to use costly gas-fired power plants during periods of peak demand. It is estimated the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4.1 million tonnes, or the equivalent of taking 40,000 cars off the road every year.
