Giant battery powers food bank and town square in Cannington, Ontario
How a giant battery is transforming a town centre in Cannington, Ontario
Toronto startup Civic Grid has installed a 60 kWh battery in Cannington, Ontario, that charges at night and powers a local food bank for six hours during the day. The unit also serves as a community gathering spot, offering lighting, seating, and phone charging. Founder Max Fine says the design, which evokes a community water well, helps residents accept the technology as they electrify systems.
"Having these spaces within these communities, big or small, I think, are really essential as we electrify our systems and we go through this energy transition."
- bryanlarsen
Ontario has a lot of nuclear power, thus a lot of underused power at night. One of the available rate plans provides power at 2.9 cents/kWh at night, making this sort of rate shifting feasible.
- xg15
> The courtyard’s 60 kWh energy system charges during the cheap, off-peak night hours, then powers the TNDF’s two buildings for six hours the following day.
> Already, multiple people are charging their phones in the courtyard in the morning, and it has helped an electric wheelchair user get moving when they ran out of juice.
The text is not really clear on that, but does this mean, there are also outlets (standard plugs, USB, etc) on the battery itself, where anyone who passes by can charge their devices for free - or does the battery only supply the buildings and the rest is just "oh we also put it in the middle of the sidewalk, slapped some LEDs on it and now call it a 'gathering place'"?
The first one would be useful and would people give an actual reason to gather there, the latter sounds like a marketing stunt.
- NigelBatteryDes
I really like the approach and design, just a tad worried it also looks like a greenhouse that will then need cooling - will have to dig into the design, thanks for sharing.