New project near Tilbury will use batteries to help meet local energy needs

A new $170-millionbattery storage project just outsideTilburyis expected to help the province meet growing needs for electricity, and providemore than 100 local jobs.

Stephen Lecce, Ontario's minister of energy and electrification, says the Tilbury Battery Storage Project once built will store 80 megawatts of power, equivalent to powering 80,000 homes.

"This will be opened at some point next fall and we're committed to getting it started literally next week," Lecce said.

"We need to move with a greater sense of urgency to build our clean energy future, and that's why battery storage is fundamental to that success."

He said the facility will help store power for tens of thousands of families and farmersin the region.

According to Lecce, no taxpayermoney will be used to build the facility, but the province will pay for the power when it is fed back to the grid.

"We also recognize we got to keep the rates down, and part of this project is not just about harnessing renewable energy and keeping our grid clean, it's about keeping the rates down for families and farmers and seniors," Lecce said.

Walpole Island First Nation has partnered with Boralex a Canadian independent power producer to advance the project, which will support more than 150 local jobs, the province says.

Adam Rosso, senior vice president of development at Boralex, says the total cost of the project is approximately $170 million.

It'll be built on a parcel of farmland just outside Tilbury in Lakeshore. It will consist of 89 batteries called Tesla megapacks housed in storage containers. They will be hooked up to the high-voltage power lines nearby.

They will be charged up by the power grid when demand is low, and then when demand peaks, they will provide power back to the grid.

"We're essentially building a large storm water managed parking lot that will essentially have high voltage equipment, and then the battery storage mega packs placed on top of foundations," Rosso explained.

"On a really windy day like today, if the electrical system or the power system in Ontario is producing excess energy, we would be charging our batteries at that point and then when the wind slows down or the sun sets a night, we essentially shift all of that energy that would have been produced during the day into the times where our communities need it most."

Rosso said only about two or three high-tech jobs will be available during the construction phase.

"A lot of the jobs for the construction of the project is going to be skilled labour for both the civil and electrical work. Roughly on this project it will be anywhere between 100 and 150 jobs during the construction," he said.

Additionally, he said they anticipate having two or three full-time jobs throughout the construction phase.

"Those will be high-tech maintenance jobs that will be looking after the battery storage facilities themselves and making sure that the high voltage equipment and the battery systems are working properly and safely," Rosso said.

Trevor Jones, the MPPfor Chatham-Kent-Leamington, said the investment by Boralex and the Walpole Island First Nation is an important one that "will improve reliability and strengthen our supply chains, particularly during peak demand periods like our harvest season."

Earlier this year, the government launched what it says it thelargest battery procurement framework in Canadian history, securing nearly three thousand megawatts of storage capability.

The Tilbury project was awarded in 2023and is estimated to be completed in late 2025.