Ontario utility rolls out microgrid project using Tesla’s Powerwall

Tesla has touted its lithium-ion Powerwall as the beginning of a shift away from conventional power transmission toward microgrids. PHOTO: Tesla Motors

AJAX, Ont.—One of Ontario’s leading utilities is launching a project that will use residential solar coupled with Tesla’s new Powerwall energy storage unit to create two residential microgrids in Ajax, Ont.

Veridian Connections, a utility that serves 119,000 Ontario customers east of Toronto, plans to launch the program in the second quarter of of 2016.

“This project serves as the ideal opportunity for Veridian to further highlight and enhance the integration of renewables with microgrid operation into Ontario’s energy landscape,” the company’s president and CEO, Michael Angemeer, said.

The project will use a 7 kWh Tesla Energy Daily Powerwall. PHOTO: Tesla

The two microgrids are set to be installed and aggregated into Veridian’s corporate headquarters. One will employ 10 KW of solar generation, 14 kWh of lithium-ion battery storage as well as electric vehicle charging capabilities. The other will utilize a 7 kWh Tesla Energy Powerwall with a solar system.

The project will integrate multiple sources of residential clean energy, maximizing load efficiencies and energy utilization using a microgrid management system developed by software firm, Opus One Solutions. The system is designed to minimize the cost of electricity under time-of-use rates, generate credits through the net metering program and respond to utility signals under the demand response programs.

Meanwhile, the company hopes the two new microgrids are also just a stepping stone.

“It’s also the first step in developing a system that will allow all types of microgrids to be added to an integrated system that will provide benefits for Veridian and improve the quality of life for our customers,” Angemeer said.

For individual Canadian consumers, Tesla’s Powerwall is also slated to become available this year.