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UPEI Researchers Receive Funding For Mapping The Islands Energy Future

Mitacs has teamed up with Drs. Matthew Hall and Andrew Swingler and will be providing funding for three graduate students and to begin work on building a map towards making the Island’s energy system 100 per cent carbon free. Both researchers are part of UPEI’s School of Sustainable Design Engineering. In total, the researchers will receive $150,000 from Mitacs Accelerate Program.

With $150,000 from Mitacs Accelerate and the P.E.I. Energy Corporation, Dr. Matthew Hall and Dr. Andrew Swingler will hire

“Prince Edward Island has a significant amount of renewable energy generation in the form of wind energy,” said Hall, an assistant professor. “But we are also heavily dependent on less clean electricity coming across the Northumberland Strait from New Brunswick.”

Moving toward a carbon-free system isn’t just about adding more wind and solar capacity, explained Hall. Further growth in renewable energy is constrained by intermittency of the power generation and storage costs.

The researchers will work with he PEI Energy Corp., which will provide essential data, knowledge of the market and networks of industry expertise.

“Prince Edward Island is a leader in wind energy and well-positioned for leadership in emerging renewable energies,” comments Heather MacLeod, energy assets manager at the PEI Energy Corp. “We are pleased to partner with the University of Prince Edward Island’s School of Sustainable Design Engineering on this important research.”

Mitacs is a national, nonprofit organization that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canada for 18 years. Working with 60 universities, thousands of companies, and both federal and provincial governments, Mitacs builds partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.

To read the full article in Journal Pioneer, click here.

To read the full article in Solar Energy, click here.

Photo by Shaun Dakin on Unsplash