The City of Medicine Hat, alongside Decentralised Energy Canada, has marked the conclusion of the demonstration phase of the Energy Innovation Challenge.
Launched in 2023, the three-year the Energy Innovation Challenge combined demonstrations, commercialization support, and investment activities, supporting more than 40 businesses.
Five winners were named: Aqua-Cell Energy, Arcobi, Edgecom Energy, Eguana Technologies, and TAKEnergy.
The winners were tasked with projects exploring complementary utility needs, with the Energy Innovation Challenge sharing the cost of testing new technologies among innovators, the City, and funding partners such as Prairies Economic Development Canada, Emissions Reduction Alberta, Natural Resources Canada, Valhalla Private Capital, and APEX Alberta.
Aqua-Cell and Eguana Technologies addressed energy storage; Edgecom Energy provided building energy management; TAKEnergy tested local electricity generation; and Arcobi tested software for strategic energy storage utilization.
Companies “need opportunities to demonstrate performance in real-world conditions, work through challenges, and build confidence with potential customers,” according to Justin Riemer, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta.
“Through initiatives like the Energy Innovation Challenge, we help bridge that gap,” he says, “supporting Canadian innovators as they advance their technologies toward commercial adoption and helping utilities assess solutions for their own operations.”
“The City of Medicine Hat and our funding partners enabled them to test individual products and explore how those technologies could work together within an operating utility,” commented Anouk Kendall, President, Decentralised Energy Canada. “That shared commitment builds utility capability, strengthens Canadian businesses, and generates knowledge other communities can use.”
“The City of Medicine Hat has a long history of putting energy expertise to work for our community,” added Linnsie Clark, Mayor of Medicine Hat. “By opening our utility to Canadian innovators and working with funding partners, we have gained equipment and practical experience to help us plan reliable electricity service for homes and businesses.”
Through this program, the City of Medicine Hat has also become the site of the first field demonstration of a saltwater flow battery in Canada’s history, thanks to Aqua-Cell Energy’s installed system, which is proceeding through commissioning as the program’s fifth and final demonstration, according to an official statement from the municipality.
Eleanor Olszewski, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, believes that the Energy Innovation Challenge “is helping Albertans turn bold ideas into real-world energy solutions that power Alberta and beyond.”
“Entrepreneurs are turning made-in-Alberta ideas into practical solutions that strengthen our economy, create good jobs, and support a more competitive energy sector,” she stated. “By investing in talent right here at home, we are helping ensure that Alberta remains central to our government’s vision of Canada as a global energy superpower.”
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