Enel X Awarded $3.3M CAD for Innovation in Ontario

Last Wednesday, Surya Panditi, Head of Enel X North America, attended the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO)’s Grid Innovation Fund (GIF) press conference in Toronto, Canada. Enel X was awarded a $3.3M CAD investment through GIF with support from the Ontario Energy Board Innovation Sandbox for an innovative pilot aggregating distributed energy resources (DERs) to support the province's growing energy needs. 

This project builds on an idea that has long guided Enel X: While the power sector has historically relied on centralized supply resources to balance demand, the future of electricity is increasingly decarbonized, digitalized, and distributed. However, for DERs to realize their full potential, they must be able to participate in wholesale markets on an even footing with other large-scale resources.

That’s why Enel X has taken on the challenge of de-risking DER aggregation through a new participation model for grid services. Through this DER aggregation pilot, Enel X aims to demonstrate how businesses can leverage on-site batteries and flexible demand to meet real-time energy needs, develop a streamlined process to measure and verify the benefits, and help the businesses get fairly compensated for their services. Similar issues are being addressed in the U.S. as part of the FERC Order 2222 compliance filings.

Enel X is uniquely positioned to pilot DER aggregation in Ontario. We were a pioneer in demand response aggregation back in the early 2000s and have participated in Ontario’s demand response programs since day one. For years, Enel X has heavily focused on enabling more DER participation across the province. We manage around 200 MW of commercial and industrial demand flexibility, and more than 60 MW of storage capacity, all potential candidates for the pilot. 

This market expertise and operational know-how allow Enel X to unlock additional value for customers, stacking benefits across utility and market programs and incentives. Enel X’s pilot project will aggregate up to 76.7 MW of load across 14 sites, located at 11 different businesses across the province – enabling local energy projects to contribute to the reliability and sustainability of the Ontario grid.

To learn more about what Enel X is doing in Ontario, read our case studies on other projects in the region:

• Algoma Orchards’ Energy Storage Solution
• Enel X and Imperial Oil: The Largest BTM Storage in North America
• Amhil North America Manages Rising Demand-Related Electricity Costs with Energy Storage