en.Wedoany.com Reported - French independent power producer Neoen has secured a 20-year capacity service contract for a 200 MW/1,600 MWh battery storage project in Ontario, Canada.

The Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) awarded Neoen a contract for 190 MW/1,520 MWh of storage through its second Long-Term Request for Proposals (LT2), fulfilled by a 1,600 MWh battery energy storage system. In early June, the IESO announced the results of the LT2 procurement, with three projects selected through capacity flows securing 640 MW of new capacity, though the winning projects were not disclosed at the time.

The LT2 tender follows the IESO's Long-Term 1 (LT1) competitive solicitation, which awarded contracts for over 850 MW of battery storage capacity in two tranches in May and June 2023, marking Canada's largest battery storage procurement to date. The LT2 was announced in August 2024, aiming to procure 3 TWh of generation and 600 MW of new capacity resources.

Neoen's battery storage project will be located approximately 15 kilometers west of Dryden, in the Kenora District of northwestern Ontario. Construction is expected to begin in 2028, with a target commercial operation date of 2030. The asset will be co-owned by Neoen and Eagle Lake First Nation on a 50% equity partnership basis, which Neoen says will bring significant economic benefits, including employment and local spending. This is also Eagle Lake First Nation's first utility-scale renewable energy project.

In May 2024, Neoen was awarded a 20-year capacity contract by the IESO for the 400 MW/1,600 MWh Tara battery energy storage system as part of LT1. The contract ranked among the top ten projects and placed second in terms of storage capacity. Early last year, Neoen began the permitting process for the 1.6 GWh battery energy storage system selected in Canada's largest-ever procurement, developed in partnership with land development company Shift Solar. Unlike the other nine BESS projects or recently awarded projects developed in collaboration with Indigenous developers, the Tara battery energy storage system does not include Indigenous participation in project ownership.

In May, the IESO issued a Long Lead-Time Request for Proposals (LLT RFP) to procure up to 800 MW of long-duration energy storage (LDES). Subsequently, long-duration energy storage developer and operator Hydrostor announced plans to submit an compressed air energy storage project to the LLT RFP.