It’s another step in the direction of a massive power storage facility in Napanee, Ont.
The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) gave the green light to the project, which is a joint effort between Atura Power and Ameresco.
With the Pickering Nuclear Power Plant, which is responsible for 14 per cent of the province’s energy, set to close in 2026, the province has gotten the wheels in motion on a number of power storage facilities to shore up the supply of power.
One such facility that will store 250 megawatts is slated to be built in Napanee alongside the already existing Atura Power site, just west of Kingston.
In a press release, Atura Power said that the facility will be the largest energy storage procurement ever in Canada.
The company’s senior manager of business development, Brad Kyte, said in an interview with Global News that this is just the first big step in what is still a long process.
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“We have just kicked off the environmental approval process, so that will involve conversations with our Indigenous communities, the public, with the municipality, but ultimately looking to secure our support and environmental approvals for the project,” he said.
The project will provide stability to the power grid as the plant in Pickering goes offline and Kyte said that it will also boost the local economy.
“The project budget in total is about $725 million. Of that, as you can imagine, a large portion of that is for the battery system, but about $60 million of that is for the insulation, the construction activities that will happen at the site,” he said.
Kyte said that construction is estimated to take around a year and a half with a peak of about 100 jobs at the height of construction.
He added that, if everything goes according to plan, construction should begin sometime in 2024 to have the facility come online in 2026.
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