Rodan Installing 50-MWh Battery Storage Behind Meter at Ontario Cement Plant
An Ontario cement supplier will install 50-MWh in on-site energy storage capacity that promises to be the biggest behind-the-meter battery project in Canada so far.
St. Marys Cement is working with Rodan Energy Solutions which will install the battery storage system at the cement production site in Bowmanville, Ontario. Rodan will develop, own and operate the system which it hopes to put into commercial operation by May 2028.
The cement supplier will utilize the batteries to reduce peak electricity demand and gain some long-term energy savings without a prohibitive upfront capital investment cost.
“Our Bowmanville plant has been part of the community since 1968, and we have continued to invest in its long-term performance. This project brings together energy cost management, operational resilience and our sustainability roadmap in a practical way,” Jorge Wagner, CEO of St. Marys Cement parent company Votorantim Cimentos, said in a statement.
“By helping us reduce demand on the grid during periods of peak system demand while supporting reliable plant operations, the project reflects Sustainable Legacy, one of the values of Our VC Way, and our commitment to creating lasting value for our operations and communities,” Wagner added.
The St. Marys project will be Votorantim Cimentos’ first behind-the-meter battery storage project in North America. The battery system will be synchronized with the grid but also capable of powering the cement plant during periods of high provincial electricity demand, helping offset the need for on-site generation such as diesel power which would raise greenhouse gas emissions.
Votorantim would compensate Rodan Energy through its own savings from both energy use and grid services. Rodan will optimize the system through its FlexOps energy management platform.
“This agreement is a demonstration of what behind-the-meter BESS can deliver for large industrial energy users – real economic savings, a lower emissions footprint, and energy security they control,” Rodan Energy Solutions CEO Paul Grod said. “We are actively building a North American portfolio of projects like this one, and we are looking for the right C&I partners, financiers, battery manufacturers, and EPCs to grow with us.”
Rodan currently manages about 1,500 MW of distributed energy resources throughout North American electricity markets. Commercial and industrial customers increasingly are seeking on-site battery storage to handle frequency regulation, on-site power and transient load challenges.
St. Marys Cement has operated a plant in Ontario dating back 114 years. Its current facility’s capacity exceeds five million metric tons of cement production annually.
Globally, the cement industry emits close to 2.5 billion metric tons in greenhouse gases annually, accounting for about 6% of total industrial emissions around the world.
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About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing EditorRod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.
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