Construction is now underway on a battery energy storage facility in Eastern Ontario that will ultimately become the largest battery storage facility procured in Canadian history.

Once complete, the new Skyview 2 Battery Energy Storage System in Edwardsburgh Cardinal will provide enough capacity to power nearly 400,000 homes, strengthening the province’s electricity grid and protecting Ontario workers and jobs by supporting a more competitive, resilient and self-reliant provincial economy.

“As part of our plan to protect Ontario, we’re making record investments in energy generation, transmission and storage to make our province an energy superpower,” said Premier Doug Ford. “Skyview 2 is an important part of that plan and will be a game-changer for Leeds and Grenville’s economy, as well as our First Nations partners. It will help to deliver the reliable, clean and affordable energy needed to power our growing communities and economy for generations to come.”

With electricity demand in Ontario forecasted to increase significantly by 2050, Skyview 2 marks an important milestone in Ontario’s clean energy transition and will play a vital role in supporting the province’s clean electricity grid. Once operational in 2027, the facility will store electricity from Ontario’s clean electricity grid during periods of low demand and return that stored power to the system when demand is higher, while creating up to 300 jobs during construction and additional operational positions following completion.

The Skyview 2 project is a lithium-ion battery energy storage facility procured through the Independent Electricity System Operator’s Long-Term 1 Request for Proposals (LT1 RFP).

Developed in partnership between Potentia Renewables Inc. and the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation, the facility builds on other projects such as the Oneida Energy Storage facility, to bring Ontario’s total energy storage capacity to nearly 3,000 megawatts (MW) and collectively create up to 3,000 jobs across the province.

To date, nine out of the 10 selected storage projects under the LT1 RFP have Indigenous ownership, representing more than 1,400 MW of capacity.

Energy storage will allow the storage of baseload generation like nuclear and hydro while also supporting the integration of intermittent resources like wind and solar.

The Ontario government has also launched the Second Long-Term Request for Proposals, the largest competitive energy procurement in the province’s history. Its procurements are designed to attract a diverse mix of technologies through open, transparent processes that will secure the electricity Ontario needs to support the building of new homes, businesses and communities.