Alberta is known for its booming fossil fuel industry and oil production. The province is home to the largest fleet of coal power plants for electricity in Canada. However, Alberta is taking steps to become more eco-friendly by aiming to cut emissions equal to half of its coal fleet by 2030.
The Chappice Lake Solar + Storage project, under the company Elemental Energy, is launching with the help of battery systems from Invinity Energy Systems. The project will pair a 21 MW solar farm with a 2.8 MW/8.4 MWh vanadium flow battery system.
The Alberta government’s Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) program gave the Chappice Lake project $10 million CAD of its total $40 million CAD.
Invinity’s vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) will be connected to the solar panels. This will make the project more cost-effective, efficient, and flexible. The battery will store solar power and release it when needed.
Community Benefits
For the project, Elemental Energy is collaborating with the Cold Lake First Nations, who will hold an equity interest. The goal is to make sure the local community benefits from the project through jobs and access to clean energy.
Why Use Vanadium Flow Batteries?
While traditional lithium-ion batteries have a short lifespan, vanadium flow batteries can be used for decades without degradation. They are also easily scalable by enlarging their electrolyte tanks.
Other Clean Energy Projects in Alberta
Other than the Chappice Lake project, there are several other ongoing and recent energy storage initiatives in the province:
Lockheed Martin is planning to pair a 6.5 MW / 52 MWh battery storage system with a 102.5 MW solar farm from TC Energy.
Alberta’s first grid-scale battery solar system, a 10 MW / 20 MWh Tesla lithium-ion system named WindCharger, started operation in 2020. It was also paired with a wind farm.
TransAlta is planning WaterCharger, a massive 180 MW hydro-linked battery project.
Alberta’s grid operator AESO is also testing storage for fast frequency regulation.
Reference:
Invinity to deploy vanadium flow battery at solar-plus-storage project in Alberta, Canada
