IESO Recommends Shift to Grid-Scale Storage in Ontario, Relying on Natural Gas Expansions to Ensure
The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has released their Resource Eligibility Interim Report with an analysis on whether Ontario should enact a moratorium on natural gas plants. Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith first asked the IESO to weigh in on this last year and with a request for an interim update to “inform the eligibility of emitting resources” in upcoming energy procurements.
The IESO report states that without new natural gas in the near term, they would have to rely on “emergency actions” like conservation appeals and rotating blackouts to stabilize the grid, suggesting Ontario needs “a limited amount” of new natural gas production.
The electricity operator recommended the province procure 4,000 MW of new energy capacity — enough to power the City of Toronto — in order to keep up with demand by 2025-27. Of that, 1,500 MW should come from natural gas and 2,500 MW via energy storage and non-emitting resources such as hybrids and biofuel resources.
The interim report notes that adding 1,500 MW of natural gas production will increase greenhouse gas emissions by two to four per cent however the IESO states it is a necessary stopgap as the province and businesses “continue with their electrification plans,” which will see electricity demand increase by 1.7 per cent annually for the next two decades.
The IESO recommends the Ontario government make a significant investment in battery storage, balanced by natural gas and other forms of non-greenhouse gas emitting generation to ensure reliability and affordability.
Following the release of the IESO interim report, an order-in-council from the government’s Executive Council signed Thursday greenlights the IESO to move ahead with the natural gas procurement and allows contracts for new commercial operations to last until 2040 to align with Ontario’s latest-expiring existing natural gas generation contracts.
For more information, contact Chelsea Goberdhan, HRAI GR Specialist for Ontario at 1-800-267-2231 x236, or email cgoberdhan@hrai.ca.
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