Page 25 - CARILEC CE Journal CENOV 2021

A combination of renewable generation and
storage –stand-alone or grid-connected can be
set up as a self-sufficient micro-grid, particularly
suitable for island-scale operations, recovery after
natural disasters and increasing the power system’s
resiliency. This has been the case in places like
Prince Edward Island in Canada and Ragged Island
in the Bahamas. The Ragged Island project combines
Canadian and Caribbean expertise and investment,
delivering a PV and storage system that will meet
95% of the energy needs for the island community.

Canada and the Caribbean share the need to provide
power to remote communities, in locations that are
difficult to connect to the grid. In Canada, there has
been a lot of progress made on cost-effective energy
storage, net-zero developments and microgrid
solutions, to support remote communities that
otherwise rely on diesel generators. It must be noted
however, that remoteness is not the sole reason for
reliance on diesel generators in the Caribbean.

Canadian remote communities have also pioneered
the rethinking of energy business models. In the
Yukon, indigenous communities have partnered
with the local utilities to own and operate new
Canada is a world leader in science and technology
with strong commitments to innovation and collaboration. solar projects. Under this model, the community
Nanode Battery Technologies is developing high will benefit from their own efficiencies and smart
performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery anodes. management. This progressive, non-engineered
solution requires trust and collaboration between
the community and the utility and is a successful
Moving forward, there will be significant model that can be replicated in the Caribbean.
opportunities to keep deepening these strong ties
(for reference, the sector is expected to grow by Another key opportunity for growth is the
almost 50% by 2030 in Canada); this article aims to development of software to support the automation
explore some of them: of energy systems. On the demand side, this begins
with the task of understanding the complexities of
As more intermittent power sources come online and energy use, so utilities can be more efficient with the
Climate Change accelerates extreme weather events, energy already supplied. The collection of energy use
the need for back-up energy supply will continue to data is a challenge, particularly when using outdated
grow. The Caribbean knows this firsthand, with an systems which are not fit for this specific purpose.
increasing share of renewables in the energy matrix Several Canadian companies have designed software
and being at risk of disruptions every hurricane package solutions that capture energy use data for
season. In Canada, where wind and solar are the commercial or domestic buildings and translate this
dominant sources of new capacity, representing two information to identify opportunities for low-carbon
thirds of new generation capacity additions since building improvements.
2009, and wildfires and winter storms are becoming
more frequent; there has been an uptake in battery Chris Tumpach, CEO of Rainforest Automation,
backup power and energy storage solutions, capable points out the importance of real-time information
of providing grid, commercial and residential scale when managing grids, particularly for smaller grids
backup power. with reduced capacity, such as island grids. “When

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