Northland inks first deal with Tesla to build Canada's largest battery energy storage project

Oneida battery energy storage facility in Ontario, Canada. Image credit: Northland Power

Canada’s Northland Power has fired the starting gun on the country’s largest energy storage project to date, awarding a number of key development contracts for the 1,000MWh Oneida battery facility and finalising a 20-year storage services agreement with a provincial grid operator.

The developer is working with NRStor and Grand River Development Corporation to build the 250MW lithium-ion facility near Nanticoke in southeastern Ontario, and has hired Tesla to provide “key components” and services for the facility, which will be designed and built by Aecon.

“The Oneida Energy Storage Project is a milestone for Ontario’s burgeoning energy storage industry. For Northland, this project marks our first energy storage investment. The opportunity to build and operate Canada’s largest battery energy storage project is of special significance,” said Mike Crawley, CEO of Northland.

The project, which has backing from the Canada Infrastructure Bank and “closed” financing from several commercial lenders, is set to come online in 2025 and will double Ontario’s current energy storage capacity to 475MW.

In addition, another $50 million is being allocated through the so-called Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program for the development of Onieda as a project that will contribute to Canada’s goal of a 100% net-zero electricity system by 2035.

According to a BloombergNEF forecast report last October, driven by recent policy shifts in the United States and Europe, the global energy storage market is expected to grow 15-fold to 411GW (1.19TWh) by 2030, although supply chain constraints may slow growth.

(Source: Northland Power Global Energy Storage Network, New Energy Network Comprehensive)