Hitting Net Zero will depend on storing more energy

When we talk about decarbonising Canadian electricity, we tend to focus on how it is generated. How can we cost-effectively expand hydropower capacity? Where are solar panels and wind turbines best located? How can we fully capture the potential of new fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia?

All vital questions, to be sure.

But only increasing the generation of clean electricity is not enough, either to meet the growing demands of the system or the net zero goals Canada has set. We must also knit the system together, through the large-scale build-out of diverse forms of energy storage, which can optimise generation assets and help to advance Canada on its path to carbon neutrality.

Closing the gap

Our recent white paper, Energy Storage: A Key Pathway to Net Zero, quantifies, for the first time in Canada, the scope of the build-out needed, providing a province-by-province estimate of the installed capacity required to optimally supplement Canada's grid as more green electricity sources are added. It is a significant amount - in the range of 8 to 12 gigawatts nationally by 2035.