NRStor announces its first commercial flywheel energy storage project

- Ontario's electricity system to become one of the most efficient - 

TORONTO, Dec. 20, 2012 /CNW/ - NRStor has partnered with Temporal Power, an Ontario developer of the world's highest energy flywheel technology, and Ontario Power Generation, one of North America's largest producers of electricity and a current provider of regulation service in Ontario. Together, NRStor, Temporal Power and OPG will deliver two MW of regulation service to the IESO by ensuring fast-response energy to optimally provide this grid-balancing service. NRStor will lease a one-acre parcel of land from OPG for the construction of the flywheel facility to be located on the site of OPG's Lambton Generating Station in Sarnia, Ontario.

"This is such an important step forward for the future of Ontario's electricity system. With today's announcement, the IESO is making the choice to create one of the most efficient and productive electricity systems in the world," said Annette Verschuren, Chair and CEO of NRStor Inc. "NRStor was created to accelerate the commercialization of energy storage and I couldn't be prouder to have our first project approved in just a few short months."

NRStor was established in 2012 when Annette Verschuren teamed up with Northwater Intellectual Property Fund to accelerate the commercialization of energy storage technologies through the planning and development of energy storage solutions. Northwater is an investor in Mississauga-based Temporal Power Ltd., developer of a highly efficient flywheel energy storage system and Newton, Massachusetts-based General Compression, a pioneer in the development of compressed air energy storage systems.  NRStor is working with both companies to accelerate projects from demonstration to commercialization.

Intermittent renewable energy capacity from sources such as wind and solar technologies will grow by 40% globally over the next 5 years. As more renewables come online, the power supply will become more variable causing many challenges for the grid in terms of matching electricity supply to demand. NRStor's facility, using Temporal Power's flywheels, can respond much faster than conventional generation sources, enabling them to follow regulation commands more accurately, thus returning the electricity grid to a balanced state more quickly and ultimately, providing savings to the ratepayer.

This project marks a milestone in the development of commercial energy storage projects in both Ontario and Canada. Grid-scale energy storage solutions, such as this, have the potential to significantly extend the timeline for investment in transmission and distribution assets, enable greater penetration of renewables on the grid, positively impact ratepayer electricity bills and improve overall grid security and reliability. 

About NRStor
NRStor aims to accelerate the commercialization of energy storage technologies through the planning and development of energy storage solutions. NRStor will provide grid-scale energy storage solutions by partnering with the most reliable, efficient, and cost-effective technologies, leveraging relationships to facilitate dialogue with regulatory bodies, performing opportunity assessment, site analysis and project planning, developing project financing, partnering with top developers, and operating completed facilities.

SOURCE: NRStor

For more information or to speak with NRStor Chair and CEO, please contact:
Nick Cowling,  Citizen Optimum
O: 416-934-8011; M: 416-573-5614
[email protected]