5 minute read
ALTONA TOWNS
C ANADA’S FIR ST-EVER MICROGRID COMMUNITY
STORY BY: Kimberly Brathwaite | PHOTOS COURTESY OF: Madhouse Advertising
This spring, Elexicon Energy partnered with Marshall Homes and Opus One Solutions on the country’s first-ever preplanned nested microgrid community.
The pilot project was a success not only because of the partnership, but also because of the funding support from the Ontario Ministry of Energy, under the Smart Grid and Grid Innovation Fund.
Elexicon Energy is proud to be a part of this project because it helps them to serve customers in a more efficient and costeffective way, and it also aligns with the company’s upgrading capacity that will result in positive outcomes for customers.
“The microgrid community directly connects to one of our core strategic pillars which is innovation and is a great addition to the work that our sister company, Elexicon Group, does to support the needs of customers,” says Norm Fraser, Interim CEO and President of Elexicon Energy. “It was a perfect scenario for everyone involved Elexicon Energy, Opus One Solutions, Marshall Homes and the Ministry of Energy.”
Construction began four years ago and everyone was excited to see the dream community completed and to finally welcome 27 homeowners to the property. It is located in the Finch Avenue and Altona Road area in Pickering and has many state-of-the-art features which includes rooftop solar panels, Tesla lithium-ion battery energy storage and electric vehicle charging stations for residents in the neighbourhood.
Conor Soye moved into Altona Towns in April. So far Soye and his fiancé are very happy with their new home and its features. They think the concept of a microgrid is great and they love the fact that they get the feeling of living off the grid, but still within a community offering the comforts of the city.
“Electricity bills are definitely lighter than I have had before, thanks to the microgrid. There are some really neat options with the Tesla Powerwall that we have in our unit,” Conor explains. “We are still on Time of Use electricity, but the Powerwall allows you to charge and store power during the Off Peak hours and run the house from the Powerwall during the On Peak/Mid Peak hours—essentially streamlining your power usage on the Off Peak pricing. There is a Storm Alert setting as well and that allows the unit to sense when storms are incoming so that the Powerwall can be fully charged and ready in the event of an outage with 100 percent backup power. Really cool!”
TECHNOLOGY WINS
As technology and electricity distribution changes, Elexicon Energy is happy to be an innovation thought-leader in the energy sector. The municipally owned utility will gather insights and lessons learned from the deployment, from the transmission station down to the local community.
The electricity for the microgrid connects to Elexicon Energy’s system and is facilitated through a new energy management software platform program called GridOS® developed by Opus One Solutions. This new system will allow Elexicon Energy operators and engineers to monitor and learn how and when electricity is used with homeowners in full control of their own power system, meaning they will be able to shift their energy consumption habits, eventually saving money on their utility bill while safeguarding against power outages to their home through the energy that is stored on an integrated battery system either in their home and/or as part of the microgrid community.
“Opus One Solutions is thrilled to have partnered with Elexicon Energy, an innovative and forward-thinking Utility provider, to develop a smart community microgrid in Pickering, Ontario that will act as a blueprint for the future of Seaton community in Pickering that could house up to 15,000 homes,” says Hari Suthan, Chief Strategic Growth Officer, Opus One Solutions.
By 2031, the population of Pickering is expected to grow from 94,000 to 190,000 residents . The City of Pickering is one of the most sought-after cities in the region and the perfect place to explore and develop new smart technologies that benefit homeowners and the city. “As a recognized leader in sustainability, the City of Pickering is proud to be the home of Canada’s first planned Smart Microgrid Community,” said Mayor Dave Ryan. “I commend Elexicon Energy, Marshall Homes, Opus One Solutions, and the Ministry of Energy for partnering in this visionary and landmark project. Together, we hope to inspire more residents, businesses, and communities to take innovative and meaningful action in fighting climate change.”
“Pickering is a great municipality for a sustainable community initiative. They just get it. From the top down they helped us along the way in getting things,” Craig Marshall, President of Marshall Homes.
This project also offered everyone an opportunity to help the environment and create a housing option that would decrease the reliance on traditional forms of power. As a business, Elexicon Energy is committed to finding and using new technologies that leave our planet in better condition than it was found; at least that’s the goal.
“With climate change a key concern in our era, Elexicon Energy is looking to develop an industry model for a smart grid, with the hopes this project will increase energy distribution reliability and contribute to net zero emissions targets for Canada by enabling wide-scale smart grid implementation in the near future,” said Falguni Shah, VicePresident of Technology and Innovation at Elexicon Energy.
Elexicon Energy looks forward to more opportunities to expand its presence in the microgrid space and finding sustainable energy solutions for all customers in the future.
