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On Monday, September 30, Climate Positive Energy was pleased to host Atsushi Teraji, General Manager at Nissan Motor Corporation in Japan, to discuss a partnership that will result in mutual benefits. Joining the discussion were University of Toronto experts Olivier Trescases (Director, University of Toronto Electric Vehicle Research Centre) and Baochun Li (Professor, Computer Engineering), as well as industry expert Hisham Omara, Vice President of Grid Modernization at Alectra. 

CPE Executive Director Shatha Qaqish-Clavering provided exclusive insights on the proposed Grid Modernization Centre project, which was recently awarded $10M in federal funding to support a secure, resilient, and sustainable grid system. Qaqish-Clavering emphasized the significant industry interest in the Grid Modernization Centre, which is due to the impact of emerging technologies such as energy storage, EV chargers, renewables, and other power management systems on the grid. The Centre has already engaged 50 partners from the energy eco-system including federal agencies, industry and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), utilities, regulators, small- and medium-sized enterprises, start-ups, and various industry associations. 

Hisham Omara added valuable insight on how grid modernization is a key area of concern for utilities due to the increasing demand for energy and the existing aging infrastructure reaching end-of-life. Omara emphasized the importance of leveraging grid modernization technologies to enable more sustainable clean electricity generation and distribution. 

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Following the discussions, Professor Trescases led Teraji through a private tour of the University of Toronto Electric Vehicle (UTEV) Research Centre, which offers a world-class environment ideal for large-scale deployments, testing, and development of battery, charging, and EV technology. The tour was supplemented by insights from multidisciplinary UTEV researchers including undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. 

With the technological advances in EV development and the accelerated adoption of EVs, experts start to look at EVs as an essential piece in the energy transition puzzle. Whether through its utilization as energy storage or on-demand energy source, vehicle to grid (V2G) will cause a paradigm shift on how we utilize and distribute energy. 

Discussions are under way between the University of Toronto, Alectra, and Nissan on how to better leverage the experiences that each partner is bringing to the table through cutting-edge research and development (R&D) and demonstration supported by the newly created Grid Modernization Centre.  

CPE extends its gratitude to Nissan Motor Corporation and the U of T experts who shared their insights during this important visit. 

If you’re an industry member interested in learning more about U of T’s Grid Modernization Centre project, contact info@cpe.utoronto.ca.