New Green Energy Project

Monday, 6 October 2014 06:00

Woodstock Hydro is bringing renewable energy sources to 16 downtown customers.

WOODSTOCK -- Woodstock Hydro launched a new energy saving pilot project at their Green Energy Doors Open event on Saturday.

Woodstock Hydro Manager Jay Heaman revealed the microgrid plan. Solar panels were placed on the roof of the garage in the Woodstock Hydro parking lot and the energy output will be conserved and distributed between 16 businesses in the downtown core. Woodstock Hydro Manager of Operations Jay Heaman says the project has the potential to change where people get their electricity from.

"We plan to transport into an actual subdivision, you picture a dozen homes with a transformer to try and take that whole concept into a subdivision where those people are generating everything they need and they are able to share power in that subdivision."

The smartgrid is a concept that strays from the typical "one size fits all" model currently being implemented for the creation and distribution of electrical energy across the province. It is also provides the opportunity to distribute extra energy to multiple places.

Rolf Maurer with Arntjen Solar North America said, "What we are trying to achieve is to minimize the rates, the costs for electricity to consumers or families and homeowners to use electricity when electricity is available and at it's lowest cost, basically to optimize the electricity use, bring it to consumers at the lowest cost."

Smartgrids are not knew, but Heaman adds that the White Lanes grid they have created is unique.

"One of the first microgrid projects that's actually customer connected it's in the downtown core, we are working with 16 different customers from different backgrounds we have renewable energy, we have energy storage and working with customers to help them understand their own consumption, how to reduce and match flows with renewable energy."

For information and explaination of how the grid works and why it is beneficial, Woodstock Hydro has an animated video that can be seen by clicking here.