Israeli smart grid technology being applied in Ontario

The Canada-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation is providing $1 million to a bilateral team of companies and partners to develop smart grid technology for the energy sector. CIIRDF is providing $1 million to the project — valued at $14 million — through the Canada-Israel Science and Technology Energy (CIEST) fund, a three-year, $10-million initiative. The bulk of the funding will be provided by the project's industrial partners. Defence technology expertise from RAFAEL Advanced Defence Systems Ltd will be used by Ellis Don, a multinational construction services firm, to develop a next-generation smart grid management system. The project will be piloted in the City of Guelph to test the command and control capabilities of the technology to manage district energy and microgrid systems. The CIEST fund was tapped last year in conjunction with Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance to develop technologies to rein in the environmental footprint of oil sands producers (R$, December 22/14).....