Grid Innovation Fund

Below is a collection of reports and third party evaluations that outline the progress, success and learnings of completed and ongoing projects:

• Joint Targeted Call Interim Report: The OEB’s Innovation Sandbox and the IESO’s Grid Innovation Fund held a joint targeted call for innovative proposals on DER integration, focusing on projects that test the capabilities of DERs in providing grid services at both the local and provincial levels.
• 2021 Grid Innovation Fund Third Party Evaluation: A third-party analysis of Grid Innovation Fund projects showed that if these innovative technologies were to be adopted more widely across the province, they could reduce costs to Ontario’s energy system and customers by half a billion dollars.
• 2024 Grid Innovation Fund Third Party Evaluation: A third-party analysis of Grid Innovation Fund projects demonstrates the potential for innovative technologies to advance grid reliability and affordability, while helping Ontario move toward a decarbonized grid.
• 2025 Grid Innovation Fund Third Party Evaluation: Independent evaluations of five Grid Innovation Fund projects funded between 2018 and 2024 provided valuable technical, operational and strategic insights and helped de-risk early-stage innovations. However, the broader impact of these pilot projects on Ontario’s electricity sector has varied, depending on factors such as technology maturity, pilot scale, data availability, evaluation timing and market conditions.