On January 30th, CAFES hosted a successful lunch & learn and networking event with about 100 attendees at Hub350 in the Kanata North Tech Park. Attendees learned about how innovations in battery energy storage systems (BESS) can help maintain our power reliability. The event brought together local residents, community leaders, not-for-profits, business leaders, tech people and engineers, Ottawa Hydro, and not least a half dozen Ottawa councillors. The session was opened by Councillor Cathy Curry, speaking both as Kanata North Councillor and as acting Deputy Mayor.
BESS are devices that enable electrical energy to be stored and released when the power is needed. This allows so-called "load shifting" where we store energy when it is plentiful and then use it when demand peaks. BESS is becoming increasingly vital in the modern energy landscape. These technologies are essential to quicken the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy, and will be a key link between renewable energy supply and electricity demand. BESS offers numerous benefits including energy resiliency and grid stabilization, integration of renewable energy resources, enhanced energy independence and lower energy costs.
WATCH: The highlights or full coverage of the event.
The January 30th BESS lunch event featured the launch and presentation of the latest Dunsky Energy Report giving an outlook for the Ottawa region regarding BESS. This was followed by a panel discussion focused on:
Read more from the Dunsky report below:
And you can check out this article from The Energy Mix covering our event by Gaye Taylor with files from Mitchell Beer, which features findings from the Dunsky report and discusses how batteries offer the best and cheapest path to energy resilience in rural Ottawa.
Stay tuned for a full BESS project report by CAFES covering this event - coming later in February.
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