Although Canada at large and Ontario have taken steps to improve the EV industry through incentives, mandates, and manufacturing and supply chain improvements, recent events have brought to light underlying issues with the province's electrical capacity.
Major Investments and Uncertain Opportunities
In March an agreement for a $5 billion EV battery manufacturing facility was announced for Windsor, this is set to be one of the largest investments in the country's auto industry and a crucial step in international EV supply. However not all is well with the Windsor region, as it has potentially been disqualified from hosting an additional $2.5 billion plant due to a lack of electrical capacity according to Invest WindsorEssex in an article from CBC News. Although some officials are still hopeful about the additional plant, it is undeniable that changes need to be made to keep up with the region's increasing appetite for energy.
Challenges in the Near Future: Growing Demands
In their Annual Acquisitions Report the The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) defines capacity as:
"...a resource’s maximum ability to provide energy or reduce load when required. To plan a reliable electricity system, the IESO must ensure that adequate capacity is available to supply the peak demand, taking into account scheduled and reasonably expected unscheduled outages of system components, with sufficient margins in reserve."
In that same report they discuss a need for 1,975 MW of resources in the West of London in the near future, which is comparable to the load of all of Hamilton.
Although work is already underway to develop 5 new transmission lines through the region, businesses looking to expand, especially greenhouses, have repeatedly run into this capacity limitation in the past. In order to reduce reliance on government and external resources experts suggest looking into distributed energy resources (DER) and on site generation.
How We Can Help
Mann Energy Solutions (MES) is a professional consulting engineering company that specializes in electrical and energy solutions, including engineering and implementation. Our experienced electrical engineers can help work with your building’s unique profile to identify spare electrical capacity, energy saving opportunities, and design the best system for you. We have extensive experience with managing existing electrical capacity for facility expansions and new machinery, working with utilities to expand service size, and DER and microgeneration through solar PV and cogeneration.
Our firm has hundreds of installed electrical and power projects and we have been in business since 1983. Some of our services include:
Free site walk-through by our experienced engineers and technicians to provide an initial site assessment
Engineering feasibility studies
Incentive study and application
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) for a turnkey project
For more information or a complimentary assessment contact us through the main site, info@mannenergysolutions.com, or call (905) 597-5855.
Sources and Further Reading
Invest WindsorEssex - Government of Canada welcomes largest investment in Canada’s auto industry
IESO - Annual Acquisitions Report
Ontario Newsroom - Ontario Supporting Economic Growth in Southwest Ontario