As an active participant in Ontario''s energy transition, Utilities Kingston is supporting a long-duration energy storage project that would store electricity to be used in meeting peak demand. We are proud to be a partner on the proposed Quinte Energy Storage Centre (QESC), that would contribute 500 MW of capacity and eight hours of storage for continuous discharge into the provincial grid.
The project is a partnership with two leading Canadian renewable energy companies: Hydrostor Inc. and Potentia Renewables Inc., along with Utilities Kingston and in collaboration with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.
The QESC is an innovative solution that will support Ontario''s future energy capacity and reliability requirements, with the construction of an Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) facility, located in Greater Napanee, near the Lennox Transformer Station.
The technology will provide bulk scale, long-duration energy storage that is emission and fuel free, supporting Ontario with its GHG reduction goals and resulting in minimal environmental impact.
The project is anticipated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 90,000 tonnes annually, and to benefit grid reliability and regional economic development. This includes supporting $1.4 billion in provincial gross domestic product and approximately 670 direct construction industry jobs over a four-year construction period.
Here''s a summary of the A-CAES process:
The province is projecting continued growth in Ontario''s electricity demand across residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors. Considering societal decarbonization goals, it will be critical for energy companies to pursue innovative opportunities like non-wire alternatives to help ensure the continued reliability of the provincial energy grid.
Utilities Kingston acknowledges that we are on the traditional homeland of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat, and thank these nations for their care and stewardship over this shared land. Read more on our land acknowledgement page.
Ronateryéntare ne Utilities Kingston tsi ronwatisothokon''kénhen rati''terontáhkwe ne e''tho tánon yah nonwén:ton tehonatká:wen ne ohóntsa né: ne Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe, tánon ne Haudenosaunee. Teyakhinonhwerá:tons ki onkwehshón:''a tsi rati''nikón:rare ne ohóntsa tánon ohné:kanos, yakwahrharátstha tsi enyakwaten''nikón:raren ne ohóntsa tsi entyakwatka''we ne kayenawa''séhtshera.
NAPANEE — Utilities Kingston is supporting a project that could provide a way to store electricity to be used to meet peak demand.
The Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage is being proposed as part of the Quinte Energy Storage Centre near the Lennox Generating Station west of the city. The project promises to store 500 megawatts of electricity for use during peak demand.
Put simply, the system uses off-peak electricity to run a high-pressure compressor to create compressed air, which is then pumped into an underground, water-filled storage tank. When the air is pushed into the storage tank, the water is displaced to a holding pond on the surface.
During peak demand periods, the water is pumped back in, forcing the compressed air back to the surface, where it is heated and sent through turbines to generate electricity when it is needed the most.
The system promises to provide eight hours worth of stored electricity and has been used in California and Australia.
"We''re really looking at this in a phased approach. The project that we''re looking at is 500 megawatts right now. We have a lot of expansion potential over the long run, to potentially, in the long run, to replace the whole 2,000 megawatts at Lennox," explained Jon Norman, the president of Hydrostor, the Toronto-based company that wants to build the project.
"It provides regional network support, it offsets the fossil fuel usage in the area. We really are serious about this being a regional initiative with community benefits that go far beyond Lennox."
Construction of the Quinte Energy Storage Centre would be worth about $1.43 billion to Ontario gross domestic product during the four-year construction period and create 670 construction jobs and, once built, 40 permanent jobs.
The project is being characterized as a regional asset with economic benefits for all of eastern Ontario and David Fell, the president and chief executive officer of Utilities Kingston, said it was a project that Kingston''s public utility should be involved in.
"As your utility company, I believe that we need to evolve and grow beyond just providing safe and reliable utility services and taking care of the pipes and wires, poles and pumps," Fell told city council Tuesday night. "We need to participate in this energy transition more actively."
On Monday, the provincial government released a study that indicated demand for electricity increased for the first time since 2005 and could double from 42,000 megawatts today to 88,000 megawatts by 2050.
The Independent Electricity System Operator reported last year that by 2032, eastern Ontario could need an additional 4,100 megawatts.
On Tuesday, Jul. 11, 2023, Lanie Hurdle, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the City of Kingston, will present a report to Kingston City Council recommending that Kingston provide support in principle to the proposed Quinte Energy Storage Centre (Quinte ESC) project.
Based on information provided to the City by David Fell, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Utilities Kingston, the Quinte ESC project is a partnership between Hydrostor Inc. (Hydrostor) and Potentia Renewables Inc. (PRI), along with Utilities Kingston and in collaboration with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. According to the report, the proposal purports to create "an innovative solution for Ontario’s impending energy capacity and reliability requirements" in the form of an Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) facility, strategically located in Greater Napanee near the Lennox Generating Station.
Compressed-air energy storage (CAES) is a way to store energy for later use, using compressed air. Doing so allows energy generated during periods of low demand to be stored for release during peak load periods.
Utilities Kingston suggests in the report that there are three key benefits for Kingston if the City chooses to participate in this project.
First, it must be noted that in 2019, the City of Kingston became the first Ontario municipality to declare that climate change is an emergency requiring an urgent and strategic response. Accordingly, the Utilities Kingston Strategic Plan for the 2021-2025 period included the goal of supporting the City of Kingston as a climate action leader.
The Quinte ESC is anticipated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 90,000 tonnes annually, and the report suggests that this project will be a significant leap forward in Ontario''s future grid, providing long-term replacement capacity for the Lennox Generating Station while becoming an integral pillar of Ontario’s long-term energy security and sustainability.
According to the report, the partners behind the project have engaged geotechnical, interconnection, economic development, technology, and electricity market consultants to further validate the project, "the results of which have all reiterated the benefits and suitability of this exciting opportunity for the Province of Ontario."
Second, an economic assessment estimates that the Quinte ESC would support around $1.43 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Ontario, and an additional $222 million in Canada more broadly, over its four-year construction period. Quinte ESC would also directly create around 670 high-value jobs in Ontario during its four-year construction phase and 40 permanent local jobs during operations, according to the CAO''s report.
Third, the report says Quinte ESC is strategically positioned to fill a looming capacity gap of over 4,100 MW in Eastern Ontario — a gap identified in The Independent Electricity System Operator''s (IESO) 2022 Annual Acquisition Report (AAR) — by offering a reliable, non-emitting capacity source that maximizes Ontario''s existing generating, electricity imports, and transmission infrastructure. The project would contribute 500 MW of capacity and eight hours of storage duration for continuous discharge onto the Ontario grid.
Beyond requesting the City of Kingston''s support of the project, the CAO’s report recommends that Council request that Utilities Kingston provide periodic updates on the Quinte ESC project at future Council or shareholder meetings.
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