A subsidiary of Toronto Dominion (TD) Bank will be installing Tesla Megapacks in northern Alberta, which when complete will make it the largest installation of its kind in Canada.
The project, dubbed eReserve and launched by WCSB Power Holdings, will see three 20MW Megapack batteries installed at three different locations. The extra energy stored in the batteries will be used to help balance the grid in the province as more renewable electricity projects come online.
One location in Raycroft, about 68km north of Grand Prairie, is already under construction and expected to be online in December. Two other Megapacks will be built in Grand Prairie and Buffalo Creek, also in northern Alberta. Plans call for both to be operational by mid-2021.
The total cost of the project was not disclosed, but it will not receive any government subsidies. Jeff Mouland, managing director and head of infrastructure at TD told The Globe and Mail even without the funding they still expect to see a good return on their investment.
While this will be the largest battery installation in Canada when it goes online next year, it’s not the first in Alberta. Earlier this year, TransAlta installed Tesla Megapacks at their Summerview Windfarm in Pincher Creek, Alberta.
There was also a project by Saint John Energy which installed a smaller 1.25 megawatt battery pack. Saint John Energy hopes to save more than $15,000 per month with the installation.
