Morris-Turnberry Council open to considering battery storage project: Heffer

BY BOB MONTGOMERY

Morris-Turnberry Council has agreed to consider a battery energy storage system project being proposed in the municipality by Aurora Renewables Inc.

 

Morris-Turnberry Mayor Jamie Heffer told The Citizen that the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) is a Crown agency responsible for operating Ontario’s electricity grid, ensuring reliability and managing the province’s wholesale electricity market. It also leads long-term planning for the province’s electricity supply and procures new generation, storage and capacity resources through competitive processes. 

 

The IESO’s work includes balancing supply and demand on a moment-to-moment basis, connecting new generation facilities to the grid, and engaging with municipalities on regional energy planning. So essentially the battery energy storage system stores energy when it’s not required and releases it when it is.

 

Heffer says the energy would be stored in containers above ground and that the IESO does have a host interested in the project. Heffer says they’re still in the very early stages of this discussion and the vote by council at last Tuesday’s meeting only approved permission for the discussion around the project to proceed. He also points out that Morris-Turnberry’s situation differs from the two projects that were turned down in Huron East and Central Huron. He says in both of those cases the land in question was zoned agriculture and that is not the case in the Morris-Turnberry proposal.

 

So, Morris-Turnberry Council has given its approval for discussion of the battery energy storage system to go ahead, but he also points it, the discussion is still in the very preliminary stages.