SASKATCHEWAN RESEARCH COUNCIL
A Triple
Threat
Canada’s first utility-scale hybrid energy
storage system
By Andy Goodson, Saskatchewan Research Council
The variability of wind and solar poses a challenge to anyone hoping to
launch renewable energy projects. By combining multiple renewable sourc-es,
projects can come alive.
Wind is the perfect example of this variability. However, there’s another abundant en-ergy
source that can pick up much of the slack – sunshine. Thankfully, Saskatchewan
has a lot of it.
In cooperation with Cowessess First Nation, the Saskatchewan Research Council
(SRC) has directed the installation of 1,134 new solar panels at the Cowessess Renewable
Energy Storage Facility – a high-level wind turbine and energy storage project original-ly
commissioned in 2013. This expansion, or second phase, builds on the facility’s initial
success, one that started as a research project and is now creating economic impacts.
With the solar addition, SRC will continue to evaluate the system’s performance over the
next year of operation and to validate its capabilities.
The facility marks the first known utility-scale, hybrid wind-solar-storage system in
Canada, and one that paves the way for further research in renewable energy generation.
COURTESY OF THE SASKATCHEWAN RESEARCH COUNCIL
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