A Roadmap for Canada’s Grid Technology Supply Chains

What is the state of Canada’s technological and supply chain readiness to meet the challenge of expanding and modernizing our electricity grid?

For Electro-Federation Canada (EFC), Dunsky developed new research assessing the grid technologies and electrical components expected to play a critical role in Canada’s energy transition, and the policy actions needed to accelerate deployment, attract investment, and strengthen domestic supply chains.

Figure 1

The Evolving Electricity Sector.

We found that while Canada has an established grid equipment manufacturing sector, as well as strong engineering and software expertise, the sector faces regulatory and market barriers, remains reliant on imports, and is exposed to global supply chain disruptions.

Figure 2

Summary of technology opportunity assessments.

The report recommends five strategic priorities for federal and provincial government, regulators, utilities and industry:

• Scale and secure domestic manufacturing and supply chains for critical grid equipment and components, using demand aggregation, strategic financing, and targeted incentives.
• Modernize utility regulatory frameworks to enable cost recovery for digital systems, non-wires alternatives, and demand flexibility.
• Align grid technology codes and standards to improve interoperability, reduce vendor lock-in, and accelerate deployment.
• Demonstrate and scale emerging grid solutions under Canadian operating conditions to reduce risk and support replication and scaling.
• Provide long-term policy certainty to accelerate grid build-out through streamlined approvals and federal support for priority transmission and grid modernization projects.

Read the report to learn more, including access to fact sheets covering nine grid technologies that will help shape Canada’s electricity system over the next decade and beyond.as: grid infrastructure growth and sustainment, smart grid infrastructure and systems, and grid-edge and demand flexibility.