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    1. Editor's Choice

    Canada’s Prince Edward Island Plans $18.5M Microgrid to Ease Electricity Costs

    Aug. 14, 2020
    Prince Edward Island today announced plans for a $18.53 (CA$24.5) million microgrid project to ease Covid-19 related financial hardships by reducing energy costs for those that live on the island.
    Elisa Wood
    Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. By Darryl Brooks/Shutterstock.com
    Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. By Darryl Brooks/Shutterstock.com

    Prince Edward Island today announced plans for a $18.53 (CA$24.5) million microgrid project to ease Covid-19 related financial hardships by reducing energy costs for those that live on the island.

    Called the Slemon Park Microgrid Project, the 10-MW solar-storage facility will boost renewable energy use on Prince Edward Island by 3.5% and move the island closer to energy self-sufficiency.

    Part of the money is coming from Canada’s Green Infrastructure Stream (GIS) and the Smart Grid Program, which will contribute $9.3 million. Both programs are part of the government’s “Investing in Canada” infrastructure plan.

    The Government of Prince Edward Island will provide the remaining $9.6 million. 

    In addition to easing electricity costs, the project is viewed as a way to help Prince Edward Island achieve environmental goals.

    “The Slemon Park microgrid project addresses three vital areas of the Provincial Energy Strategy — efficiency, conservation, and renewables. This project will reduce GHG emissions and our reliance on imported power,” said Steven Myers, Prince Edward Island minister of transportation, infrastructure and energy.

    The project is one of several government-funded green energy and resilience initiatives underway in Canada.

    In all, the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan will channel $180 billion over 12 years in the nation’s public transit, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, as well as Canada’s rural and northern communities. Green infrastructure will receive $26.9 billion of the funding.

    In addition, Canada has added $3 billion in temporary Covid-19 ‘resilience’ funding to fund quick-start, short-term projects that might not otherwise be eligible under the existing funding streams.

    Separately, the Canadian government has invested in three other microgrid projects in recent years, among them:

    • Lac Mégantic Microgrid, a $6.4 million Hydro-Quebec project
    • The John Paul II Secondary school (JPII) carbon free microgrid, a $6.66 million Ameresco Canada project
    • A $2.65 million microgrid controller development project by Hatch

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    About the Author

    Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

    Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

    She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

    “For an especially readable voice in the industry, the most consistent interpreter across these years has been the energy journalist Elisa Wood, whose Microgrid Knowledge (and conference) has aggregated more stories better than any other feed of its time,” wrote Malcolm McCullough, in the book, Downtime on the Microgrid, published by MIT Press in 2020.

    Twitter: @ElisaWood

    LinkedIn: Elisa Wood

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    Image credit Nicole Green
    Image credit Bloom Energy
    Taylor Farms
    Connecticut solar microgrid project. Image credit Schneider Electric
    Connecticut Project
    Image credit. By Sûreté du Québec/Twitter (X). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
    Lac Megantic Burning
    Image credit Moxion Power
    Moxion Power

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