Alectra, Convergent Bring 320 MWh of Batteries Online in Ontario

• Alectra Energy Solutions and Convergent Energy and Power now have three batteries totaling 80 MW / 320 MWh operating in Vaughan and Guelph, Ontario.
• The projects hold 20-year IESO contracts from a procurement round that acquired about 880 MW of storage capacity.
• A later IESO round contracted another 1,784 MW of storage, within new capacity due in service between 2026 and 2028.

Alectra Energy Solutions and Convergent Energy and Power completed three Ontario battery storage projects totaling 80 MW / 320 MWh, the province and the companies said on Nov. 6. Two are in Vaughan and one is in Guelph.

All three are operational under 20-year contracts with the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the partners said in a statement. Ontario described the lithium-ion units as in service and delivered on time and on budget, but gave no cost figure. Neither release names a battery supplier or a commercial operation date.

The projects won their contracts in 2023 under the IESO's Expedited Long-Term 1 (E-LT1) procurement, launched in 2022. Storage from that round was scheduled to be in service no later than 2026. Ontario says it had 228 MW of energy storage three years ago, most of it at one pumped storage plant. It has since secured nearly 3,000 MW of battery storage for its grid.

The projects in numbers

• 40 MW / 160 MWh: Vaughan 3, at 6531 Rutherford Rd. in Vaughan, connected at 27.6 kV.
• 20 MW / 80 MWh: Vaughan 1E, at 8118 Dufferin St. in Vaughan, connected at 27.6 kV.
• 20 MW / 80 MWh: Arlen, at 436 Clair Rd. W. in Guelph, connected at 13.8 kV.
• 4 hours of discharge at full output, from 320 MWh and 80 MW (list.solar calculation).
• 76 MW of contract capacity is 8.6% of the 881.7 MW of storage in the final E-LT1 results (list.solar calculation).
• C$1,116.50 per MW-business day is the three contracts' weighted price, 27% above the round's C$881.09 storage average (list.solar calculation).
• 80,000 homes, roughly, is Ontario's estimate at peak demand, which implies 1 kW per home for four hours (list.solar calculation).

Alectra and Convergent announced their joint venture's selection in August 2023 and expected construction to begin in 2024. Ontario's release credits delivery to Alectra alone. The companies' release names Convergent as its partner.

Stephen Lecce, Ontario's minister of energy and mines, said the storage expansion "sends low-cost off-peak nuclear power back to the grid during peak demand." The IESO forecasts that the province's electricity demand could rise by up to 90% by 2050, Ontario said.

More storage is already under contract. The IESO's follow-up Long-Term 1 procurement acquired 1,784 MW of storage, part of 2,194.91 MW of new capacity scheduled to come into service between 2026 and 2028.