Featured projects
CUE’s unique advantage
The challenges facing the energy sector are not theoretical. They are real.
CUE is unique because it offers research expertise grounded in the reality of what does and doesn’t work in the energy sector. We have spent years working closely with leading utilities and energy companies. Our models of the future are informed by what is actually possible.
Our founding sponsors, Hydro One, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and Toronto Hydro, understood that research is essential for developing a carbon-free energy system. Since 2010, we have worked with dozens of partners on a wide range of projects focused on pressing energy issues. All of our partnered projects share a common quality: tangible outcomes.
Read more about five CUE research projects that were prominent in 2019 below.
Advancing energy storage capability
Microgrid with solar generation and energy storage – analysis and planning
Toronto Island Water Treatment Plant (TIWTP) is considering augmenting its electric system by adding a solar generation facility. They retained CUE to design a microgrid and an energy storage system in an effort to assess opportunities to support the solar project.
Problem
It was important to understand the technical feasibility of solar generation and additional demand, along with determining the optimal size of energy storage units utilized by TIWTP. The proposed project aligns with the City of Toronto's TransformTO goal to continue greening City operations, while helping to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction target of 80 per cent by 2050.
Solution
Optimize sizes of energy storage for different scenarios of load and solar generation with short payback periods.
Impact
The annual expense towards energy will be approximately halved by purchasing and installing energy storage units of the optimal size. Installation of solar generation will further reduce the energy cost.
CUE’s role
CUE’s researchers performed a steady-state power flow analysis to ensure that the additional solar generation and load were technically feasible. CUE also determined optimal energy storage sizes for eight different scenarios of load and solar generation. Upon review, the project was deemed successful and the City will include CUE’s recommendation as it proceeds with conceptual design.
Key stats
Voltage
13.8 kV to 4.16 kV
Proposed solar generation
4,000 kW
Proposed load
3,500 kW
“CUE’s capacity to assess and project the technical possibilities of our proposed solar system is essential to our preliminary analysis. This kind of innovation supports us to move toward our long-term greenhouse gas emission target.”
Transforming the energy market
Looking for local solutions that support the bulk transmission system
The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), a founding partner of CUE, has supported research fellows to explore a revolutionary, market-based, peer-to-peer electricity distribution system that could provide a host of economic and environmental benefits to Ontario.
Problem
Currently, the IESO operates the provincial energy market exclusively at the bulk transmission level. With increasing demand for both energy and storage, the absence of a transactive market – the idea of buying or selling electricity from or to anyone at any time within a distribution system – could potentially limit the growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar panels, electric vehicles and batteries, thus creating a barrier to a clean energy economy.
Solution
The economic feasibility and ultimate success of this kind of flexible electricity marketplace, which accommodates DERs and provides users with both buying and selling options, depends on the creation and testing of sophisticated software that can model and plan for a distribution-level transactive market.
Impact
Ontario stands to reap numerous benefits from a transactive energy system that would revolutionize the market for electricity by creating local energy economies, enable the growth of DERs, provide greater system-wide resiliency and reduce costs to customers.
CUE’s role
IESO research fellows Carlos Sabillon and Amr Adel developed modelling and planning software for a Transactive Energy Distribution System (TEDS) and created the TEDS Lab for testing. Their modelling and analysis of Toronto, for example, shows that the adoption of a TEDS market, with a 20 per cent market penetration of DERs, can reduce the energy price to customers up to 10 per cent, with total annual savings in the range of $272 million.
Key stats (Toronto)
4,560 MW
current peak demand
32.09 MWh
delivered annually per customer
$0.11/kWh
current average electricity charge
10%
potential savings in energy price per customer
$272.7M
total potential annual savings
“A changing world can present challenges, but the IESO’s partnership with CUE is an example of addressing change in a proactive and positive way. Together, we are exploring innovative solutions that will help Ontario’s electricity system be reliable and cost-efficient in the years to come.”
A new cohort of researchers joins CUE
Funding from Mitacs enables CUE to sponsor nine researchers for our IESO Transactive Energy Distribution System (TEDS) project
A Canadian not-for-profit organization, Mitacs designs and delivers research and training programs to support social and industrial innovation through partnerships with 70 universities, 6,000 companies, and both federal and provincial governments.
Opportunity
In 2019, Mitacs committed $401,333 of funding for a new cohort of researchers to join our ambitious TEDS research project, a partnership between CUE and the IESO, which matched the funding by committing $332,000 of its own, taking the total project value to $733,333.
Researchers
Under the guidance of CUE lead researcher Jessie Ma, four new postdoctoral fellows and five PhD students are joining the project, dramatically extending the capabilities of the research team.
Focus area
Electric power distribution systems physically connect new active transactive energy (TE) elements such as energy storage, demand response, electric vehicles, and renewables to customer loads and electric supply from the transmission system.
Project focus
The project maps out a framework for a Transactive Energy Distribution System (TEDS), which enables the creation of a robust distribution system market in Canada and elsewhere. The project encompasses building three sets of algorithms for optimal planning, optimal operation, and forecasting for the distribution system sector market, one set each for the load distribution operator (LDO) market, aggregators and prosumers.
Impact
When implemented, the framework will unlock the economic potential of TEDS elements in the distribution sector and enable the flow of private capital, thus minimizing the cost of electricity to customers while maximizing reliability. The TEDS framework advances Canada’s leadership in smart grid technology and innovation.
Key stats
$401,333
in funding from Mitacs in 2019
5 postdoctoral fellows and 4 graduate students (all PhD)
$332,000
in matching funds from IESO
$733,333
of total project funding
The future of energy storage
NSERC Energy Storage Technology Network (NESTNet) completes its fourth year
This academic, industry and government partnership addresses the future of energy storage, an essential technology in the global transition to clean energy.
Problem
A collaborative and robust exploration of energy storage – such as flywheels and lithium-ion batteries – is needed to determine how best to integrate these technologies into the electricity grid. Planning for the future also requires understanding how consumers perceive, adopt and interact with storage options.
Solution
NESTNet – a five-year, $8.7 million pan-Canada initiative – brings together 15 universities and 26 industry and government partners to investigate four research themes. Partnering with the private sector enables directed progress toward a strong domestic and globally competitive energy storage industry.
Impact
Research teams across Canada working in storage technologies, power converters, systems integration, and economics and policy have collectively produced 106 journal articles, 109 conference papers, 11 patents or patents pending, and 30 technical reports, all dedicated to solving complex energy problems.
CUE’s role
CUE plays a central role in NESTNet, leading its creation and managing the network. CUE researchers have designed award-winning energy storage systems, developed new technologies and models, travelled worldwide to collaborate with other experts, and hosted and attended key clean energy and energy storage conferences.
Key stats
84
highly qualified personnel trained in year 4
73
graduates through year 4
43%
employed in the energy sector
“NESTNet brings together the most intelligent minds from across Canada to solve complex problems in the energy storage research area, that no individual researcher, research group or university can solve by itself.”
Stabilizing the grid
Smart loads improve grid stability and performance during a dip in electricity supply
Power quality is especially important for large industrial and health-care customers. Voltage sags or dips in supply can cause adverse impact to sensitive equipment including building systems and medical equipment.
Problem
When the utility supply is interrupted for any reason, the load is shared between battery storage units and generators on site, which have very different response times and characteristics, depending upon loads. This means that the power sharing between the battery storage unit and the generator oscillates before it can settle.
Solution
Utilizing a battery energy storage system to mitigate voltage sags with damping mechanisms, this project explored mechanisms where loads are managed, in milliseconds duration, to improve stability.
Impact
CUE’s solution will help ensure large electricity customers have stable, reliable power, thereby making the entire grid more stable in the event of a disruption to the electricity supply, which can help reduce electricity costs and protect equipment throughout the system.
CUE’s role
CUE researchers developed suitable models for dynamic simulation of customers’ power systems and associated Toronto Hydro supply points. Results were used to optimize energy storage and damping systems and to ensure objectives for power quality enhancement and market services revenue were realized.
14.7MW
maximum site load
8MW
future natural gas turbine generator
15MW/3.75MWh
power conditioner
“Electricity distribution grid technology is in a period of punctuated change. New and innovative ways are being invented to distribute, store and monitor electricity more effectively. At Toronto Hydro, we need to adopt these new products and methods to provide greater value to our stakeholders. Our long-term collaboration with the Centre for Urban Energy enhances our ability to test and implement these new grid technologies to better serve our customers with safe and reliable electricity.”
Connect with us
Have an urban energy problem or possibility worth exploring? Fill out our contact form with a short description of your inquiry. A member of the CUE team will return your message with more information.