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Right now, energy generators sell their electricity to grid operators in a competitive energy market. Grid operators also oversee a parallel “demand response” procurement program, where big energy consumers like steel plants and pulp and paper mills offer to curb their electricity use during peak time — for a price 

This can take a lot of pressure off the electricity grid. It also saves money by reducing the need for the most expensive forms of electricity generation. But according to WISE researcher Jessie Ma and her Toronto Metropolitan University colleague Bala Venkatesh, the current procurement practices create economic inefficiencies. 

Optimizing the economics of demand response

Understanding the potential and challenges of distributed energy resources (DERs)  in Chile

The 2023 Summer School showcased leading-edge research from a wide array of University of Waterloo professors at the interface of water, climate, and energy.

A Sustainable Futures Initiative, the summer school was hosted by the water institute, the climate institute and the Waterloo Institute For Sustainable Energy (WISE) and aimed at senior undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, practitioners and interested stakeholders.

Professor Bissan Ghaddar (Management Sciences) was invited as a speaker at the University of Bergamo to present her research work in the area of optimization under uncertainty and machine learning. The focus of the workshop was to discuss the modeling and solving of realistic and timely urban goods transportation problems, while explicitly considering their uncertain dimensions, such as Customer Demand (CD), Travel Times (TT), Presence of Customers (PC). The aim of the models would be to facilitate the identification and design of sustainable local authority policies aimed at supporting livability, connectivity, and sustainability.

WISE conducted three information sessions and tours of the Evolv1 building for local high school student groups from Grand River Collegiate Institute, St. John’s-Kilmarnock School, and Laurel Heights Secondary School. Students were working on projects regarding sustainable energy and reached out to WISE for more information. WISE invited them for a tour of the Evolv1 building and an information session on sustainable energy. During these tours, WISE provided information on the passive and active solar technologies, geothermal energy, psychological elements of sustainability, sustainable water systems, living walls, and architectural elements of the Evolv1 building, as well as a demo of WISE staff members’ electric vehicles. 

WISE hosted an Ammonia Workshop on May 09, 2023.

A Sustainable Futures Initiative, the summer school is hosted by the Water Institute, the Waterloo Climate Institute and the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE) and aimed at senior undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, practitioners and interested stakeholders.

The 4th International Conference on Solar Technologies & Hybrid Mini Grids to improve energy access, known in short as the S-@ccess conference, occurred from April 26-29, 2023. This conference was run by Trama TecnoAmbiental and the University of the Balearic Islands in Palma, Spain, and WISE was one of the conference partners, sponsors, and on the organizing committee. Prof. Jatin Nathwani, the founding Executive Director and a WISE member, was also on the conference scientific committee. Throughout the 2022-23 year, WISE supported the organization of the conference, and Prof. Nathwani and Ambika Opal attended the conference as representatives from the University of Waterloo.

WISE along with WCI, WISA, and Water Institute, hosted a day-long Net-Zero workshop to highlight key projects and research related to Net-Zero. University of Waterloo professors, researchers, and industry partners presented their projects and research in three panels:

• Panel 1: Renewable Energy Technologies
• Panel 2: Net-Zero Communities
• Panel 3: Sustainable Transportation