The missing piece to the renewable energy puzzle.
Renewable energy is great, but because the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow, the electricity grid needs energy storage. Energy storage allows the grid to hold on to renewably-generated power when it doesn't need it, and to then call it up when it does. That makes energy storage the missing puzzle piece to a renewable future.
Enter Temporal Power, a Canadian innovator that is perfecting the science of flywheel energy storage. Flywheel storage works at the grid scale, meaning that it helps the people who manage our electricity systems, behind the scenes where most of us never need to look.
Temporal's technology stores the highest amount of energy of any flywheel system in the world, making it potentially indispensable for greening electricity systems around the world.
Going global requires help.
Temporal Power began as a start-up. It's tough for small start-ups to realize big ideas. But Temporal has made strides thanks to some timely help along the way.
Temporal CEO, Eric Murray, credits the support of a government-funded technology incubator called MaRS for helping it punch above its weight. Clean technology incubators like MaRS can advise young companies on how to navigate the challenges of commercializing a big idea, including how to attract private investment and how to staff up.
Murray also calls Export Development Canada "a hero in our story". Because flywheel projects are big and expensive to build, Temporal needed a unique approach to raising initial funds. Export Development Canada, an arm's length agency of the federal government, helped craft a bonding solution that gives Temporal the tool needed to kickstart big projects with international clients.
How do we help other clean technology companies start small and go big?
Canadian companies like Temporal have the ability to transform our economy, creating jobs and solving environmental challenges at the same time.
Accelerating clean innovation in Canada means providing support to start-ups so they can get off the ground and become global successes. Government has a role to play in that. Stay tuned for #NewThinking on accelerating clean innovation in Canada.
