Energy Storage

What role does Haldimand County play in the RFP process?

All local battery energy storage system (BESS) projects are independent of Haldimand County. Driven by the province and the IESO, the County has no direct decision-making authority over which projects are awarded to proceed.

Projects may agree in writing to adhere to specific criteria developed by the County to strengthen their bid to the province. This is the only mechanism of control that the County currently has to help ensure that any projects going ahead meet County standards in terms of public safety, consultation, acceptable visual barriers, land use planning, and monetary contributions.

However, agreeing to County criteria does not automatically mean a project will be approved by the province, only that they agree to adhere to our conditions should they be selected. Similarly, projects that do not agree to our criteria are not automatically disqualified. The advancement of any project is at the sole discretion of the IESO and the province.

For more details on specific County criteria, see Report CAO-03-2023.

Benefits to the Community

It is expected that there will be a number of local benefits to supporting battery storage facilities within the county. Some of these include, but are not limited to:

Assessment revenue

Although staff is not yet fully aware of the MPAC assessment value or classification of these projects, it is anticipated that over the course of their life, the projects will provide reliable, ongoing contributions to the municipality’s tax base while requiring minimal municipal services.

Bolstered local economy

During construction, these projects are anticipated to create local jobs. In addition, increased electrical capacity contributes to the economic viability of the area and may assist in the attraction of new or expanded business.

Environmental impacts

These projects will help to reduce Ontario’s emissions by limiting the need to run natural gas generators during times of peak loads. They will also contribute to provincial grid resilience and allow integration of existing renewable energy infrastructure, potentially avoiding the need to build new transmission infrastructure in the future.

Community benefit agreements

As a condition of local support, each proponent will be required to enter into a Community Benefit Agreement with Haldimand, which will result in significant financial contributions to the municipality over the next 20+ years.

Proponents are to provide an annual monetary contribution, per megawatt, over the life of the project. This commitment would be in the form of an executed agreement indicating that, if successful in the IESO procurement process, they agree to the annual payment terms, resulting in meaningful financial contributions to the municipality over the next 22 years. More information about these terms is available in report CAO-03-2023 Report CAO-03-2023 IESO Battery Storage Proposal – Municipal Support Resolutions.

Current and proposed energy storage projects in Haldimand County

At this time, the Hagersville Battery Energy Storage Park is the only project to be awarded by the province to proceed with constructing an energy storage facility. This project was approved as part of the first round of IESO’s Long-Term Procurement process (E-LT1 RFP)  in May 2023.

The remaining projects have been submitted as part of the second round of Long-Term Procurement (LT1 RFP). Successful projects are anticipated to be announced by IESO in the first half of 2024.

Learn more about the IESO’s procurement process.

Oneida Energy Storage Project

Separate from the province’s energy storage procurement process currently underway, the Governments of Ontario and Canada are working together to build the 250 MW Oneida Energy Storage Project in partnership with the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation.

Learn more about the Oneida project on the Northland Power website.