We’re exploring new
solutions to deliver for customers today and into the future. We’re investing
in initiatives that spur economic development, enable new ideas and foster the entrepreneurs and leaders of tomorrow.
Over the last several years we have made significant investments to help establish the Emera ideaHUB at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and the Emera Innovation Exchange at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador. These facilities offer students the opportunity to collaborate, access to advice and industry mentors and invaluable support in developing new ideas and bringing them to market.
We have also invested in the Emera NB Power Research Centre for Smart Grid Technologies at the University of New Brunswick where the research taking place is helping to advance this technology and the application of smart grids in our electric utility businesses.
We push
ourselves to be continuously more innovative in how we deliver on our strategy to provide our customers with cleaner, affordable and reliable energy.
Investments in added solar capacity in Florida and the Caribbean, modernizing
our Big Bend Generating Station in Tampa, the Maritime Link subsea transmission
infrastructure and other initiatives are helping us deliver even more
cleaner energy. These investments reflect our strategy in action– pursuing the
transition to cleaner energy our customers want, but doing so while also
delivering reliability and ensuring affordability.
We’ve
also launched a number of battery storage pilot projects across Emera including
in Nova Scotia, Florida and the Caribbean. This is another way we’re supporting
the use of more renewable energy and improving reliability for customers.
Batteries help us store renewable energy for later use when it’s not readily
available and provide a reliable back-up source of energy in the event of an
outage.
Microgrids – smaller, distributed generation networks that can operate as part
of the larger grid, or independently of it – are helping us reduce the
frequency and duration of outages. They can also play a role in helping us
incorporate more renewable energy generation into our grids.
Adopting
new technologies and approaches is critical to driving our transformation to
cleaner, affordable and reliable energy. Innovation will continue to be a core part of our business and an ongoing pursuit for us.