Windsor utilities the first to connect with smart grid

Windsor, Ont: The City of Windsor will be one of Ontario’s first municipalities to connect its water and waste water facilities to the province’s next generation of smart grid services in a pilot project managed by Sempa Power.

Windsor has agreed to connect its municipal water resources to Sempa’s Ancillary Services Network (ASN), which will enable Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to introduce greater flexibility and efficiency across the province’s grid.

Sempa Power, a provider of smart grid technologies, has been selected by IESO to work with Ontario’s industrial loads and qualify new options for demand side management. Water utilities represent one of the biggest loads in the province.

In line with an Ontario government initiative to implement 21st century smart grid technology to improve the efficiency, IESO has embarked on a pilot program to identify alternative technologies to enhance system reliability.

The goal of the program is to qualify and enable new candidates to participate in, and financially benefit from IESO’s Electricity System Regulation Market. Successful candidates incur no cost to participate and will be financially rewarded by Sempa Power.

Ideal partners have large electric equipment that operates with a consistent workload and a degree of process flexibility or functional range.