| |

Government of Canada Invests to Modernize Ontario’s Electricity Grid

August 20, 2025

The federal government announced over $13 million in federal funding to support five clean energy projects in Ontario that will help modernize existing electricity systems.

Funded through the Energy Innovation Program – Smart Grids Demonstration Call for Proposals, these projects will advance clean electricity generation in Ontario, and allow customer-owned devices such as solar panels and batteries to access and benefit from electricity markets, by generating and selling energy. This will drive down energy costs for Canadians while ensuring our grids are smarter, more sustainable, more resilient and ready for the economy of the future. 

Under the Energy Innovation Program (EIP) – Smart Grids Demonstration Call for Proposals, the following projects are receiving funding:

Project name: Centricity: Empowering Customers in Future Grid Evolution (2030)
Recipient: Alectra Utilities Corporation 
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Funding amount: $6,000,000
Description: The objective of this project is to transform Alectra Utilities Corporation’s distribution grid electricity customers into active electricity system participants by allowing customer-owned devices such as solar panels and batteries to access and benefit from electricity markets.

Alectra Utilities Corporation’s project is also receiving the Mission Innovation Green-Powered Future Mission International Collaboration Grant to support the engagement of stakeholders internationally on the success and learnings of their “Centricity: Empowering Customers in Future Grid Evolution (2030)” EIP – Smart Grid Demonstration project, mentioned above.

Project name: Centricity: Empowering Customers in Future Grid Evolution – MI GPFM International Collaboration and Knowledge Dissemination
Recipient: Alectra Utilities Corporation 
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Funding amount: $149,645
Description: Alectra will take on the role of the North American flagship project under the Mission Innovation Green Powered Future Mission’s “Five Demos in Five Continents” initiative — leveraging this grant to share knowledge and expertise from their demonstration project and to collaborate with international partners.

Project name: Deploying Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) Using Advance Multi-Port Power Conversion System to Power Industrial Facilities in Rural Weak-Grid Locations
Recipient: HIAH Corp.
Location: M’Chigeeng, Ontario
Funding amount: $3,160,000
Description: This project will develop and demonstrate a multi-port electric power conversion system (alternating current to direct current to alternating current, AC-DC-AC) that achieves power quality requirements while integrating standby generators, renewable generation and energy storage into a weak grid, thereby enabling a large industrial quarry to transition from diesel generators to renewable sources.

Project name: Distributed Energy Resources Management Platform (DERA) to Reduce Emissions and Support the Grid
Recipient: Peak Power Inc.
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Funding amount: $3,145,461
Description: The objective of this project is to deploy and demonstrate a distributed energy resource management system at three locations that can allow simultaneous optimization of distributed energy resources and customer participation in electricity markets.

Project name: Operating an Electricity Market at the Distribution Grid Using AI-Based Load Forecasting and Network-Constrained Optimization
Recipient: Enova Power Corp.
Location: Waterloo, Ontario
Funding amount: $750,000
Description: The project will operate a distribution-level electricity market using AI-based load forecasting and network-constrained optimization. Through incentivizing Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), the project aims to resolve capacity constraints at selected feeders and help defer traditional infrastructure investments, mitigating rate increases for ratepayers.

Quick Facts

  • The Energy Innovation Program (EIP) advances clean energy technologies that will help Canada maintain a competitive, reliable and affordable energy system while transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
  • The EIP – Smart Grid Demonstration Call for Proposals provides support to projects that demonstrate innovation in smart grid technologies/solutions and in market or contract mechanisms (innovations may be jurisdiction-specific). The objectives include accelerating grid modernization; improving customer accessibility of grid-integrated solutions; sufficiently representing a given electricity system to meaningfully inform future deployment considerations; addressing well-defined market gaps to build business solutions; and advancing inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) in the electricity sector.
  • One project was also selected for a grant under Mission Innovation’s (MI) Green-Powered Future Mission (GPFM), which aims to demonstrate that power systems in different geographies and climates can effectively integrate up to 100-percent variable renewable energy in their generation mix by 2030 while maintaining a cost-efficient, secure and resilient system.
  • The MI GPFM International Collaboration Grant supports proponents engaging stakeholders internationally on the successes and learnings of their EIP – Smart Grid Demonstration project. This is Canada’s contribution to the “five demonstrations in five continents” flagship project, representing both Canada and the North American continent.

Source

Related Articles