Overview
TC Energy is proposing to develop an energy storage facility that would provide 1,000 megawatts of flexible, clean energy to Ontario’s electricity system using a process known as pumped storage.
Pumped hydro storage (pumped storage) involves pumping water from a low-lying reservoir during periods of low demand for electricity, typically at night, to a higher-elevation reservoir. When electricity demand is greater (and therefore electricity is more expensive), operators release water back to the lower reservoir through turbines that generate electricity (similar to hydropower from dams).
TC Energy is in the very early stages of introducing and developing this project. There are numerous levels of assessment and approvals required before this concept could become a reality. If developed, the proposed facility would be co-located on the existing Canadian Army’s 4th Canadian Division Training Centre, north of Meaford, Ontario. It will be designed to store emission-free energy and would provide that energy to Ontarians when they need it most.
Community
Design changes address community concerns
Engineering studies and community feedback shape new design elements
Over the past year we have heard from the community and this input has helped shape how we’ve advanced and studied this proposal. Protection of the environment, the local economy and way of life are of utmost importance to area residents. As we completed elements of our feasibility work, progressed engineering studies and, most importantly, assessed the feedback we received from the public, we recognized that our original design concept for the project needed to change. While there is still a substantial level of confirmatory work to be done, we are now proposing a new design concept that responds to many of the concerns identified by the community.
Read our letter to residents of Meaford and surrounding communities
Virtual community information session
Community presentation: July 22, 2020
For those who were not able to attend our recent Virtual Community Information Session on July 22 and learn about TC Energy’s Proposed Pumped Storage Project, please watch this recorded version of the presentation and questions we answered at the end of
Questions & Answers
We have prepared answers to some of the questions from the July 22 Virtual Community Information Session. Visit our FAQs page, where we will continue to post our responses each week until all of the questions have been answered.
What is pumped storage?
What is pumped storage and how does it work?
Watch our video explaining pumped storage hydro power and how it can allow Ontario to get full value from its nuclear, wind and solar power.
Pumped storage hydro power represents nearly 95 per cent of global energy storage and there are 100 projects underway as more countries embrace this tried and true technology.
Pumped Storage Project conceptual design
Above-ground rendering
Above-ground rendering of the Proposed TC Energy Pumped Storage Project facility. Download high-resolution PDF.
Underground rendering
Underground rendering of the Proposed TC Energy Pumped Storage Project facility. Download high-resolution PDF.
New regional economic study!
Meaningful economic benefits
A new Regional Economic Study by ERM Consultants Canada Ltd., a third-party consultant with expertise in socio-economic assessment, shows the TC Energy Pumped Storage Project in southern Ontario would have meaningful economic benefits locally, regionally and provincially.
The Regional Study Area (RSA) area includes Bruce, Grey and Simcoe Counties in Southern Ontario.
A climate change initiative
TC Energy retained Navigant to perform an economic analysis of the proposed Pumped Storage Project with two focus areas:
- Assess the potential impact of the project on the cost of electricity for Ontario ratepayers.
- Quantify the potential CO2 emissions reductions for the electricity sector attributable to the project.
The Navigant team completed a rigorous economic analysis and simulation of the Ontario electricity market, calculating the ratepayer and CO2 emissions impacts of the project by running simulations with and without the project.