Ottawa New Energy Battery Cabinet

In 2025, the City of Ottawa established official plan and zoning provisions for battery energy storage uses in accordance with new Official Plan policy. BESS is an emerging technology using batteries and associated equipment to store excess energy from the electrical grid, which can then discharge energy in periods of high demand.

While the Province of Ontario is the regulator and owner of electricity generation supplies, municipalities have siting authority over new proposed renewable energy generation and storage projects, such as BESS. The approved amendments set policy direction for siting BESS within Ottawa's rural and urban areas.

City approval is being sought for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) near Dunrobin. A map posted on the website of Evolugen shows the location of the proposed South March Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at 2555 and 2625 Marchurst Rd. near Dubrobin. Photo by EVOLUGEN / HANDOUT

BESSes are already approved or under construction in Jarvis, Napanee and Spencerville. In Ottawa, a 150-megawatt battery-storage project for Trail Road has received municipal approval, but a 250-megawatt project by Evolugen for Fitzroy Harbour is facing pushback from some community members. Why Battery Energy Storage Systems?

Although energy storage comes in different shapes and sizes, the lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System (“BESS”) is the fastest emerging technology in North America and is planned to be deployed in the City of Ottawa with the Ottawa BESS 2 Project.

The primary authority for the Installation and Approval of Energy Storage Systems connected to the electrical grid in Ontario is the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA). The ESA administers Part VIII of the Electricity Act and oversees the Ontario Electrical Safety Code (OESC).