Projects
Western Transmission Catalysts: Practical Pathways to Interprovincial Transmission Expansion in Western Canada
Principal funder: Natural Resources Canada
The initiative identifies pathways to expand interprovincial transmission by addressing regulatory, financing, and coordination barriers, through partnerships with Indigenous Nations, governments, system operators, industry, and civil society. It aims to deliver a practical roadmap to improve grid reliability, affordability, and energy security while advancing decarbonization and Indigenous economic participation across Canada.
Challenges and Opportunities to Reach Net Zero Electricity in Alberta
Principal funder: Alberta Innovates
The project finds that Alberta can achieve cost-effective electrification and deep decarbonization by integrating high shares of renewables, supported by flexible generation, demand response, storage, and improved market design. It also shows that EV adoption and grid impacts are strongly shaped by pricing, infrastructure, and behavioral factors, with automation and well-designed incentives playing a critical role in enabling efficient system operation in Alberta.
Resilient and Clean Energy Systems Initiative
Principal funder: Alberta Technology and Innovation
This project advances Alberta’s energy transition by integrating grid modernization, electrification, and clean fuels through a province-wide partnership spanning universities, polytechnics, industry, and government. It shows that coordinated innovation across technologies and institutions can accelerate decarbonization, strengthen economic diversification, and position Alberta as a leader in resilient, low-carbon energy systems.
Reinforcing Canadian Energy Modelling Capacities: Enhancing Tools and Expertise for Canada’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Sector
Principal funder: Natural Resources Canada
The project develops open-source energy models and accessible datasets to support renewable integration, grid optimization, and evidence-based decarbonization planning across Canada. It also builds capacity by engaging policymakers, Indigenous communities, and local stakeholders, ensuring inclusive access to tools, data, and collaboration needed for the energy transition.
Active Charge Management of Electric Vehicles to Minimize Strain on Electricity Systems
Principal funder: Volt-Age at Concordia University funded by Canada First Research Excellence Fund
The project focuses on addressing the high power demands of EV charging, showing that widespread use of Level 2 chargers can strain local distribution systems and increase infrastructure costs. It finds that shifting charging behavior—particularly timing—can significantly reduce grid stress and support more efficient, equitable electrification.
Field Experiments on Dynamic Charging of Electric Vehicles
Principal funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
This project investigates which policies and incentives are most effective in encouraging flexible EV charging behaviour, with the goal of mitigating the need for costly electric infrastructure expansion. Current research examines financial incentives that encourage overnight charging, dynamic incentives that shift charging to periods of high solar and wind generation, and managed charging strategies that account for local grid conditions, such as the simultaneous charging of multiple nearby EVs.
Spatiotemporal Processes and Applications to Renewable Energy
Principal funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
This project aims to develop methodologies designed for meso and sub-meso scale problems related to wind power and extend these methodologies to solar power in the long term. Meso-scale problems focus on the probabilistic modeling of power produced at distributed locations across a large geographical region. Sub-meso scale modeling is concerned with resolving finer features of the wind/solar flow which can affect power production in nearby farms and on shorter time scales.
Mean Field Games and Applications to Optimize the Location of Renewable Energy Development
Principal funder: University of Calgary, Transdisciplinary Connector Grant
In this project, the impact of land use policies and transmission constraints on the economics of renewable energy development was assessed in an Alberta based case study.
Forecasting and Mathematical Modeling for Renewable Energy Outreach
Principal funder: Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences
As a part of this project, summer schools, a workshop and a capstone conference on topics related to renewable energy were organized. Summer schools provided key training for graduate students by offering courses in areas important for renewable energy. Our workshops and conferences were aimed to connect our researchers with world leaders in renewable energy research.