Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science, was joined May 1 by Chris Ballard, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, at the Clean Tech showcase at Ontario Centres of Excellence's Discovery conference in Toronto to highlight a range of programs that people and businesses across the province can access to fight climate change.
1. Low Carbon Innovation Fund
The Low Carbon Innovation Fund was created to help researchers, entrepreneurs and companies create and commercialize new, globally competitive, low-carbon technologies that will help Ontario meet its GHG emissions reductions targets. The Low Carbon Innovation Fund is part of Ontario's Climate Change Action Plan and is funded by proceeds from the province's carbon market.
The types of projects the fund will consider include:
• First time application of a GHG reduction technology that addresses a specific need
• The use of a proven technology application that has been successful in a different sector/industry, but is unproven in the proposed application
• Projects demonstrating a significant improvement or enhancement to an existing GHG reduction technology solution
• Technology validation (e.g. proof-of-concept and prototype development).
The fund has two streams of support:
Technology Validation — funds proof-of-concept or prototype projects from companies or academic organizations, helping to seed “game-changing” technologies and get them to market faster. There are 12 approved projects, including a technology that enhances aerodynamics to increase the efficiency of wind turbines.
The Technology Validation stream will provide up to 75% of a project’s expenses to eligible Ontario companies (per project), and up to 95% to eligible academic organizations (per project) to fund proof-of-concept and prototyping projects. The maximum contribution from the Province is $5 million. The Applicant and/or its partners must provide the remainder of the funding. This stream is closed for 2017-18.
Technology Demonstration — supports the development and commercialization of innovative low-carbon technologies through demonstration in real-world settings. There are 10 approved projects, including one that uses artificial intelligence to optimize energy storage systems in buildings and reduce GHG emissions
The Technology Demonstration stream will give up to 50%, or a maximum of $2 million, to support the development and commercialization of innovative low carbon technologies in a real world demonstration project. This stream is closed for applications in 2017-18.
A total of $28.1 million has been allocated for the Low Carbon Innovation Fund: $15.2 million for the Technology Validation stream and $12.9 million for the Technology Demonstration stream.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/low-carbon-innovation-fund#!/
There are now 22 successful recipients under the fund (see list at the end of this article).
2. The Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Chris Ballard, also announced a new solar energy and energy storage program May 1 that will run through the Green Ontario Fund (GreenON) to help people and businesses improve energy efficiency and save money while fighting climate change:
• GreenON Small and Medium Businesses — a technical expert will offer businesses a no-cost energy audit starting this summer and recommend energy-saving measures for buildings and operations, as well as opportunities to apply for funding to implement these measures.
• GreenON Solar Rebates — rebates for Ontario families and businesses to install solar panels and solar energy storage. Households and contractors can sign up for additional information alerts.
Approximately $90 million has been designated for the solar rebates program, and approximately $40 million has been designated for the small and medium businesses program.
Program basics (summarized in a May 3 blog post by Thomas J. Timmins of Gowling WLG):
Expected launch is Summer 2018. The initial phase of the program is limited to a province-wide aggregate of 50 MW for businesses and 20 MW for homeowners. The program will operate on a first-come-first-served basis.
Businesses with facilities in Ontario will receive $.75 per watt for a solar PV system of up to 500 kW, and approximately $26.00 per square foot for Solar Thermal Air installations.
Homeowners will receive:
• $1.00 per watt for a solar PV system of up to 10 kW,
• $370 per kWh for a storage system,
• $1.50 per watt for a solar PV + storage system, and
• $3.00 per watt for a residential standalone off-grid solar PV + storage system.
The rebates will offset a significant portion of the hard costs associated with installing commercial and residential solar and solar + storage systems, and should result in a significant build-out of distributed generation and storage across the province.
Local Distribution Companies will facilitate connecting the solar PV system to program participants' homes and businesses.
3. On May 1 the Ministry of Energy also announced the launch of a pilot program to support local innovators that are “ready to meet the demand for clean energy technologies in new international markets.”
The International Energy Demonstration Fund, with an investment of over $2 million, will provide financial support to Ontario companies that have developed innovative clean energy technologies for new markets. Developed in collaboration with industry partners and the federal government, the fund will give clean technology innovators the opportunity to increase their capacity to bring their advanced energy solutions to new markets, while helping solve global energy challenges, such as emissions from energy generation and access to clean, reliable energy.
Ontario also announced a TargetGHG-funded project through the Collaborative Technology Development Program. The project involves energy storage developer NRStor with technology supplier Hydrostor and research partners at the University of Waterloo, who propose to build a new facility in Goderich to provide the Ontario electricity grid with more energy storage.
TargetGHG encourages large industrial plants to adopt leading-edge technology and by supporting Ontario’s entrepreneurs in developing creative new solutions.
The program is supported by the Ontario government with $74 million in funding from its Ontario Green Investment Fund, which is dedicated to projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, support cleantech innovation and drive job creation and economic development.
The new TargetGHG project in Goderich is also supported by $1 million from the Ontario Centres for Excellence, for a total project value, including partners’ cash and in-kind contributions, of $7,195,422.
OCE’s TargetGHG for industrial emitters is designed to address two key issues:
• The need to support the adoption of innovative technologies for emitters to meet upcoming greenhouse gas reduction targets and
• The need for solutions that will help industry meet more aggressive future GHG targets
For more on TargetGHG visit http://oce-ontario.org/target-ghg.
Low Carbon Innovation Fund projects
Technology Validation Stream
• PowerCone Wind Turbine Technology (improves the efficiency of wind turbine blades, using ‘biomimetic’ aerodynamic principles.)
BiomeRenewables Inc.
Approved LCIF Funding: $1,809,801
• Power Efficient Data Centres
Ranovus Inc.
Approved LCIF Funding: $4,000,000
• Jewelbox Development
Morgan Solar Inc.
Approved LCIF Funding: $ 3,000,000
• Perovskite Photovoltaics (hybrid metal-organic materials with potential for high PV efficiencies and low production costs)
University of Waterloo
Approved LCIF Funding: $900,000
• Phycus Biotechnologies Inc.
Approved LCIF Funding: $375,000
• Electric Converter Dolly
Electrans Technologies Ltd.
Approved LCIF Funding: $1,000,000
• G2F: Greenhouse Gases to Fuel
University of Toronto
Approved LCIF Funding: $990,495
• Innovative Carbon-Sequestering Fertilizers
University of Guelph
Approved LCIF Funding: $255,369
• Seed-Borne Agricultural Crop Technology for GHG Reduction
University of Ottawa
Approved LCIF Funding: $750,000
• Lithium-ion Battery Materials
Springpower International Inc.
Approved LCIF Funding: $753,984
• Borealis Wind – De-icing System
Borealis Wind
Approved LCIF Funding: $500,000
• GBatteries (“Enabling electric vehicles to charge as fast as it takes to fill up a tank of gas”)
GBatteries Energy Canada Inc.
Approved LCIF Funding: $900,000
Technology Demonstration Stream
• High Density Charging (lithium-ion batteries)
eCamion
Approved LCIF Funding: $2,000,000
• High Rate Two-stage Anaerobic Digestion Technology
Greenfield Global
Approved LCIF Funding: $2,000,000
• FuelCHAR (biogas, landfill gas and sulfur removal)
Char Technologies
Approved LCIF Funding: $1,062,385
• Accelerating Customer Sited Energy Storage
Peak Power Energy
Approved LCIF Funding: $1,904,500
• Smart Electric Vehicle Charging Management
SWTCH E-CAR
Approved LCIF Funding: $350,000
• Lipid to Hydrocarbon Demonstration Project (biofuels)
FORGE Sombra
Approved LCIF Funding: $2,000,000
• Thermal Cooling with Energy Storage (“harnessing low-grade heat to generate deep refrigeration”)
Thermalfrost
Approved LCIF Funding: $430,000
• Back Contact Solar Photovoltaic Modules
Silfab Solar
Approved LCIF Funding: $2,000,000
• Low Carbon Waste-Water Treatment
Trojan Technologies
Approved LCIF Funding: $875,000
• Smart Fuel Switching Furnace
iGen Technologies
Approved LCIF Funding: $285,000