Summerside Solar & Storage Integration

The City of Summerside will deploy a community microgrid that integrates solar photovoltaic (PV) and storage technologies into its wholly owned distribution system. This initiative, which builds on the Summerside’s existing wind capacity and smart grid system, will help maximize the city’s variable renewable energy generation. By increasing the amount of locally generated renewable energy, the project will displace imports from New Brunswick’s fossil-fueled electricity grid, thereby contributing to a reduction in CO2 emissions. The first phase of this project resulted in the successful construction of a solar energy and storage pilot project at the city’s multipurpose sporting and convention complex in late 2017. This second phase will eclipse the scale of the pilot as it is more than 50 times larger, combining 21MWac/26MWdc of solar PV generation with a 10MW/20MWh battery storage system. The project aligns with multiple municipal policies, including the city’s Official Plan, its Economic Development Strategy, and its Renewable Innovation Strategy. All of these specifically chart out the city’s ambitions and action steps for integrating more renewables into its grid system. Innovative aspect: • Integrates renewable energy generation and storage technology within a small municipal utility Replicability: • This project has the potential to be replicated across Canada, particularly in remote and rural communities that currently rely on conventional fuel sources for electricity generation Environmental benefits: • Potential to generate 32,000 MWh/year of solar energy • Increasing the city’s renewable energy generation from approximately 42% to 62% • Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8,128 tonnes/year Economic benefits: • Cost reductions from purchasing less power from the New Brunswick grid • Direct revenues for local business through the procurement of project goods and services • Creation of 210 full-time equivalent jobs during project construction and operation over the 35-year lifetime of the project Social benefits: • Improvement in electricity service reliability and resilience • Creation of a high-quality labour pool to support and service local renewable energy projects (Project description from original funding application)