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Ryerson University

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations8
System facts17
Sources reviewed12
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

The legacy Ryerson record conflates at least three related but distinct research assets. The 150 kW battery was an Electrovaya lithium-ion SuperPolymer demonstration (reported as 600 or 625 kWh) connected to Toronto Hydro's 13.8 kV grid at the downtown campus; it was not a Schneider battery. Schneider Electric's separate Smart Grid Laboratory opened in 2015 and can emulate feeders/microgrids with SCADA, ADMS, protection, storage and renewable inputs. A June-October 2015 PowerStream project used that lab to replicate a 27.6 kV feeder with battery, solar and loads. The university was renamed Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), and both the current Smart Grid Lab and outdoor megawatt-scale grid-testing facility remain advertised, while the original Electrovaya project is marked completed.

Research status
Research/demo, not a building microgrid in planning. The Electrovaya large-scale battery project ran to June/December 2016 and is listed by both TMU and Natural Resources Canada as completed. TMU currently advertises an outdoor 13.8 kV grid-connected facility capable of testing MW-scale units, but does not state that the original 150 kW Electrovaya battery remains installed or operational. The Schneider Electric Smart Grid Lab remains active and is used for current research, including controller-in-a-box work reported in 2024/2026 materials.
Historical classification
Building
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
43.65766, -79.37880
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Ryerson University?

8 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Electrovaya

Developer/manufacturer of the 150 kW lithium-ion SuperPolymer battery system and lead recipient for the federal storage demonstration. [5][6]

Organization

Manitoba HVDC Research Centre / Manitoba Hydro International

Built and tested the Phase II second-life automotive battery prototype microgrid in Manitoba; that 18 kW diesel/battery/load-bank setup was not located at Ryerson's Toronto campus. [6]

Organization

Natural Resources Canada

Federal Clean Energy Fund project funder/reporting agency; current investment registry marks the project completed. [6][7]

Organization

Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE)

Partner/funder for the large-scale battery demonstration. [5][8]

Organization

PowerStream Inc.

Sponsor/user of a separate 2015 laboratory prototype that replicated the Greenwood Transformer Station feeder and demonstrated islanded and grid-connected operation. [8]

Organization

Schneider Electric

Founding technology/funding partner for the separate Smart Grid Laboratory; not the maker of the 150 kW Electrovaya battery. [4][9][8]

Organization

Toronto Hydro

Utility partner and 13.8 kV grid interconnection counterpart for the downtown battery testing facility. [3][5][6]

Organization

Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) / Centre for Urban Energy

Campus host, research integrator and operator of the current grid-testing and smart-grid laboratory facilities. [3][4][8]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

Storage
150 kW Lithium Ion Battery [1]
Toronto battery power and energy
150 kW. TMU's updated one-page case study gives 625 kWh (4.17 hours at rated output), while the 2015 annual report gives 600 kWh (4 hours). The discrepancy likely reflects project-version reporting and is preserved rather than averaged. [5][8]
Battery container
Approximately 5,000 lithium-ion cells in a custom 4 x 3 x 14 m container with battery, control, electrical and HVAC compartments, plus DC breaker, switchgear, transformer and thermal/battery-management systems. [6]
Campus interconnection
Outdoor facility connected to Toronto Hydro's 13.8 kV grid, monitored and controlled by utility-grade SCADA over fibre, and capable of testing MW-scale units. This is the current facility envelope, not the old battery's nameplate. [3]
PowerStream laboratory microgrid
Physical replica of PowerStream Greenwood Transformer Station feeder M21 at 27.6 kV, with three feeders, battery, solar, AC/DC loads, and four tests in grid-connected and islanded modes. Component power/energy ratings were not published in the case study. [8]
Separate Manitoba prototype
Five second-life automotive batteries independently coupled through DC-DC converters to a common DC bus and 600 VAC voltage-source converter, then operated in parallel with an 18 kW diesel generator and programmable load bank. Its capacity is not the 150 kW/625 kWh Toronto battery rating. [6]
Energy mix
The Toronto battery is grid-charged storage used for off-peak charging, peak support and power-quality research. No installed PV, wind or fuel-fired generator is documented as part of that campus battery. Solar and battery inputs in the Schneider lab were emulated/plug-in test assets; the 18 kW diesel was at Manitoba HVDC Research Centre. [5][8][6]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Toronto battery

Electrovaya — Li-ion SuperPolymer 2.0

150 kW containerized stationary storage, reported at 600-625 kWh. Cell/module model and PCS model were not disclosed in the reviewed sources. [5][6]

02

Battery safety and balance of plant

Model not publicly disclosed

Upgraded battery-management and thermal-management/cooling systems, DC breaker, switchgear, transformer, control and electrical compartments designed for dense urban deployment. [6]

03

Smart Grid Laboratory

Schneider Electric and partner ecosystem

Protection schemes, breakers, transformers, SCADA, ADMS and AMI capable of representing a utility substation/feeder or microgrid and accepting renewable, load and storage hardware. Exact device models are not listed on the current public page. [4][10]

04

Manitoba Phase II power electronics

Model not publicly disclosed

Five battery-specific DC-DC converters, common DC bus, 600 VAC voltage-source converter and master controller. Manufacturers/models were not disclosed on the federal page. [6]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • General

    It will deliver necessary technologies for the development of a smart urban distribution network which can enable the widespread use of clean energy and storage. [1]

  • Project boundaries

    The downtown Electrovaya grid battery, the Schneider Smart Grid Lab, the PowerStream feeder-replica microgrid, and the Manitoba second-life battery/diesel prototype are related research efforts but physically and contractually distinct. Their equipment and capacities must not be summed. [5][4][6][8]

  • Battery objectives

    Charge off-peak and discharge at peak, reduce local capacity stress, study power-quality and protection/control issues, compensate renewable intermittency, and establish safe urban grid-storage practice. [5][6]

  • Timeline conflict

    TMU's updated case study lists July 2012-June 2016; its 2015 annual report lists January 2011-December 2016. NRCan's registry begins January 2011 and marks the project completed. The broader federal program and campus operating phase therefore had different date conventions. [5][8][7]

  • Current research status

    TMU's 2026 project inventory reports 81 completed and 12 in-progress applied projects. Its 2024 annual report describes a microgrid-controller-in-a-box validated in the Schneider lab with commercial off-the-shelf equipment, showing the lab remains active beyond the original 2015 demonstration. [11][12]

  • Current equipment gap

    TMU still advertises the outdoor 13.8 kV test facility but does not state the original Electrovaya battery's current presence, state of health, cycle count, availability, augmentation or retirement. A current facility page is not proof the 2012-era battery remains operational. [3][5]

Provenance

12 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    Read More

    ryerson.ca · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  3. [3]
    Grid-connected Utility-scale Battery Facility

    Toronto Metropolitan University Centre for Urban Energy · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Schneider Electric Smart Grid Laboratory

    Toronto Metropolitan University Centre for Urban Energy · Primary source

  5. [5]
    Research Case Study: Large-scale Battery

    Toronto Metropolitan University Centre for Urban Energy · Primary source

  6. [6]
  7. [7]
  8. [8]
    Centre for Urban Energy 2015 Annual Report

    Ryerson University Centre for Urban Energy · Primary source

  9. [9]
    Centre for Urban Energy History

    Toronto Metropolitan University · Primary source

  10. [10]
    Schneider Electric Smart Grid Lab Brochure

    Ryerson University / Schneider Electric · Primary source

  11. [11]
    Applied Research Projects

    Toronto Metropolitan University Centre for Urban Energy · Primary source

  12. [12]
    Electric Horizon - Centre for Urban Energy 2024 Annual Report

    Toronto Metropolitan University Centre for Urban Energy · Primary source

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