Hydro-Québec is setting another milestone in the battery sector. Its subsidiary EVLO is commissioning the largest battery energy storage park in Quebec. Located in Haute-Mauricie, the new facility will be able to store enough electricity to power the residents of Parent for 16 hours during power outages.
EVLO’s new automated storage system “does not require any human intervention” to start or stop discharging electricity, explains Sonia St-Arnaud, CEO of this Hydro-Québec subsidiary specializing in battery storage. “It can detect a failure, for example, and automatically take over.”
Adjacent to the Parent substation, the automated system is composed of 20 battery energy storage units (BESS). These look like white containers in which the batteries are installed. With a power capacity of 4 MW (20 MWh), the technology can provide electricity to nearby residents for 16 hours.
“There were outages lasting several hours and there are works planned for the coming years,” says M.me St-Arnaud. We needed solutions to bring electricity during shutdowns, whether for work or during breakdowns.
In the coming years, Hydro-Québec must carry out work on the La Vérendrye-Parent line that supplies Parent. This will force the temporary shutdown of the only line that supplies the municipality, explains Régis Tellier, Senior Director of Operations and Maintenance at Hydro-Québec. EVLO’s energy storage system will make it possible to carry out this work without having to use a diesel generator.
The costs of the operation total $42 million, which includes work on the line, construction and research necessary for technological development, says Mr. Tellier.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY HYDRO-QUÉBEC
EVLO’s battery energy storage system is installed at the Parent station in Haute-Mauricie.
Like a laboratory, the project in Parent allowed Hydro-Québec to better understand the coexistence of an automated storage system with the transmission network, says Mr. Tellier. How do the various infrastructures interact? “The two systems have to talk to each other,” he summarizes.
The initiative is part of a broader investment by Hydro-Québec, which aims to improve the quality of services in the province by reducing the number of outages by 35% within 10 years.
Published last November, the Action Plan 2035: Towards a decarbonized and prosperous Quebec recalls that climate change “also has a very real impact on [le] network” as well as on the quality of the service which “has deteriorated”.
The year 2023 was among the worst in the last 15 years for power outages. Additionally, power delays have increased by almost 70% since 2019.
In its plan, the state-owned company provides for massive investments of $40 to $50 billion by 2035 to ensure the reliability of our network.
EVLO’s 11 projects
Hydro-Québec’s subsidiary specializing in battery energy storage, EVLO, has multiplied its projects over the past seven years. In addition to the one installed in the municipality of Parent, in Haute-Mauricie, EVLO has worked on 10 other initiatives. Here they are.
- Hemmingford: 1.2 MW
- The system aims to meet demand during daily and seasonal peak periods as well as improve the resilience of the regional network.
- Quaptaq: 600 kW
- The system was installed in 2018 in this village – one of the most northern in Quebec – where average winter temperatures are below -40 °C in winter. It was designed to help the community transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
- Blainville: 120 kW
- This system, consisting of four units, was installed in an office building. It would reduce the building’s peak consumption by almost 15%.
- Kuujjuarapik: -900 kW
- Inaugurated in 2021, the system aims to reduce dependence on hydrocarbons and to be able to turn to renewable energies in this isolated community in northern Canada which has around 1,000 inhabitants.
- Lac-Mégantic: 0.6 MW
- Some 1,700 solar panels power two storage units. EVLO’s microgrid could supply the city center with clean electricity for several hours.
- La Prairie: 2 MW
- This plant, which was built in 2021, is equipped with 26,000 solar panels with an installed capacity of 8 MW. It can store surpluses for later discharge.
- Tonnerre, France: 9 MW
- Inaugurated in 2022, the plant ensures grid stability during unforeseen circumstances and balances the energy transmission system.
- Varennes: 1 MW
- This storage system is used for research and development in the fields of network simulation to better understand, for example, how networks react to the integration of energy storage systems.
- Summerland, British Columbia: 1 MW
- Inaugurated in 2023, the system can supply electricity to the grid for two hours.
- Troy, Vermont: 3 MW
- In operation for only a few weeks, this system absorbs excess renewable energy production in the Troy region of the United States. The energy can then be discharged onto the New England grid to facilitate supply during peak demand.
- Virginia: 1.65 MW
- Expected to begin operations next year, the microgrid will be powered by solar energy, part of Virginia’s push for utilities to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050.