Nova Scotia Power will work with world-class industry leaders like Tesla and Opus One Solutions to provide cleaner, more reliable electricity to a Nova Scotia community as part of a multi-year pilot project. The goal of the project is to successfully integrate new technologies onto our grid to provide the best service and value for our customers as we continue our transition to renewable energy sources.
The project, known as the Intelligent Feeder Project', will involve installing a grid-size battery (Tesla Powerpack) and up to 10 residential batteries (Tesla Powerwalls) on a feeder line powered by a wind turbine or other distributed energy generator. Sensors will be placed on the feeder line to monitor and gather information about local system activity and, using Opus One's GridOS® real-time intelligent energy networking platform, will be analysed and fed back to NS Power's control centre. This project will help us balance the variability of renewable energy generation, minimize power outages for customers, and use our generation resources to their maximum efficiency.
Over the last decade NS Power has been making the most aggressive transition to renewable energy in Canada. The utility reached 27% renewable generation in 2015 from just 7% in 2007 and has a requirement of 40% by 2020. Nova Scotia's energy sector leads the nation for reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) and tops the list in penetration of wind as a percentage of generation capacity.
"Our momentum in this area remains strong. We are focused on pairing the right technology with our existing grid to make the best choices for our customers today and for future Nova Scotians. Projects like this will build on the work we've done and push us closer to a sustainable energy future." says Karen Hutt, President and CEO of Nova Scotia Power. "We're pleased to have been recognized as a progressive utility interested in this kind of innovative research and development. We see major promise in energy storage integration and are looking forward to what real-time feeder data will allow us to achieve in terms of performance optimization."
Opus One is leading the project funded in part by Sustainable Development Technology Canada and is formally named the Transactive Energy Network for Clean Generation, Energy Storage, Electric Vehicle Charging and Microgrid Integration'. Construction is scheduled for 2017 and the project will be active in 2018.
"Sustainable Development Technology Canada is very proud to support the commercialization of Nova Scotia Power's innovative project," said Leah Lawrence, SDTC President and Chief Executive Officer. "This project will create green jobs for the local economy, increase efficiency in the sector and provide economic and environmental benefits for all Canadians."
Emera Maine, an Emera affiliate, will be taking part in a simultaneous and related project that includes over 500 kW of solar, a Tesla battery storage system, a level 2 electric vehicle charging station, and an advanced microgrid controller.
