Ottawa Low Cost Electricity for Thermal

The City of Ottawa will conduct a pilot project to demonstrate the ability to utilize low-carbon electricity during periods when the projected Hourly Ontario Electricity Price (HOEP) is lower than natural gas heating costs. The City completed a pre-feasibility study that dispatched a mock electric appliance (boiler) in real time which confirmed the opportunity. In the study, a cloud-based program imported the HOEP and compared the net marginal of electric thermal to the net price for gas thermal. When electricity was cheaper, dispatch instructions were sent to the building’s automation system to fire up a virtual electric boiler. This project will build on the study by installing and operating an actual electric boiler and recording the results. Environmental benefits will be realized in an estimated reduction of 169 tonnes of annual GHG emissions. The pilot will take place at the Walter Baker Community Centre (WBCC) over a 12 month monitoring period. The WBCC is classified as a Class A facility in the Province of Ontario. Through Ontario’s Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI), participating Class A facilities are able to manage their global adjustment costs (a variable amount charged to all Ontario electricity consumers designed to cover the cost of building new electricity infrastructure and delivering Ontario’s conservation programs) by shifting demand during peak periods to low periods. This project will provide considerable opportunity for energy cost savings as a result. Assuming a 20 year life for the project, this initiative has a net cost of roughly $30/tonne of GHG reduction, well below the current targeted carbon price of $50/tonne in the Pan Canadian Framework. Based solely on operating cost reductions, this project has an estimated payback period of less than 7 years. The measure will have a societal benefit of employing electricity when it is in relative abundance, thereby helping to find a more consistent market for variable renewable generation on the grid. This project is driven by the City’s objective to find practical and cost effective measures to reduce GHG in existing buildings, particularly for thermal uses as this is the largest source of GHG emissions in Ottawa. The City of Ottawa has a $1M annual capital budget for funding exploratory projects that are focused on corporate energy and water conservation. This initiative is directly linked to the City’s goal to reduce corporate GHG emissions by 20% below 2012 levels by 2024. The City’s IT department assessed this pilot project as “low-risk” and have approved its deployment. The initiative has been discussed with other City departments with Class A accounts, district energy suppliers, and the City’s Building Automation System (BAS) contractor. Hydro Ottawa completed the pre-feasibility study; they have endorsed the approach and will remain as technical consultants for the pilot. This pilot will provide direct knowledge value for the other 1,603 Class A facilities in Ontario (7 additional in Ottawa) and businesses that buy their energy on the wholesale market. Knowledge and lessons learned as it pertains to software and smart grid technology will provide value across Canada. (Project description from original funding application)