Canadian Biomass Magazine

Ontario utility launches offering off-grid co-gen power

October 24, 2018
By OOM Energy Inc.

Oct. 24, 2018 - OOM Energy Inc. (https://oomenergy.com) has created a new concept that it says will revolutionize how people and business get their electric power. The company, based in Oakville, Ontario, has developed a system that takes customers off the power grid, and provides electricity that is cheaper, more reliable, and environmentally friendly.

“The existing public utility had a monopoly on electric power that society has come to accept,” says Craig Clydesdale, Founder and CEO of OOM Energy. “But it’s as efficient as an old mainframe computer. We are in a different age now and the time has come for a better option. A dedicated energy system.”

OOM – for Order of Magnitude – is a private utility that provides clients with electricity through an Integrated Energy Platform (IEP.) This portable, onsite power system involves green technologies – cogeneration, batteries, cloud technology, and low CO2 emissions – that result in clean, reliable power. The client pays a fixed monthly fee for energy under a long-term Energy Services Agreement at a rate less than what a public utility charges. The initial cost savings are substantial.

The system comes in a portable box placed outside the client’s facility, much like an A/C unit sitting beside a house. Power generated is not shared, but is the client’s own power. The client is not connected to the grid and there are no hydro-electric poles, government money, or subsidies.

Today in North America power grids are struck by a cyber or physical attack on average every four days. Power losses, such as the one that hit the Ottawa area last month, usually stem from the public utility carrying power over long distances – from a hydro, nuclear, wind or solar plant – using wires and poles. In the Ottawa region more than 135,000 homes lost power. But OOM’s systems has no poles, so there is no risk involving wind and weather, and no power line losses.

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The net result is a model that is cost-effective and economic, and without upfront capital expenditure.

“Brownouts and blackouts are eliminated,” says Clydesdale. “Think about that. Now a business can have a safer and more reliable source of energy, and it’s sustainable over the long term with no environmental impact. And, of course, it’s also much cheaper. Who can benefit? We are talking about everyone from the local hockey arena to major manufacturers to private homes.”

Clydesdale, who has more than 30 years of senior management experience in the energy industry, uses the system for his own house. The company has raised in excess of $20 million, is expanding into the United States and abroad, and has already made onsite installations across North America for clients who reap the benefits so they can concentrate on their core business. These installations include: transportation facilities, hotels and convention centres, recreation centres, commercial buildings, cement manufacturers, gas treatment facilities, steel plants, agricultural farms, and retirement residences.


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