Courtesy/Decentralised Energy Canada

By Jesse Gill

ENERGY

City of Medicine Hat partner to announce award winners in Energy Innovation Challenge

Sep 4, 2025 | 6:08 AM

The City of Medicine Hat and Decentralised Energy Canada have selected Take Energy Inc., Aqua-Cell Energy Inc., and Eguana Technologies as the final award recipients in the Energy Innovation Challenge.

They join Arcus Power and Edgecom Energy, whose projects are already underway.

Calgary-based TAKEnergy Inc. will install its TERVEX expander, which captures energy usually lost during natural gas pressure reduction and converts it into reliable, carbon-free electricity.

Unlike intermittent renewables, this power operates like baseload generation as long as gas flows.

The system will be sited at a west-side gas let-down station next to Aqua-Cell’s prototype battery storage facility.

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat: Dec. 12-14

Dec 12, 2025

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat: December 5-7

Dec 05, 2025

WHAT'S ON

Top five things to do at the Medicine Hat Public Library in December

Nov 30, 2025

“Building on the success of our first TERVEX pilot, this project will show how seamlessly our technology can scale,” said James Cleland, president of TAKEnergy Inc.

“With five times the output of our initial pilot, we’ll deliver reliable, zero-carbon power to the grid, and help utilities balance demands.”

Aqua-Cell Energy Inc., based in Edmonton, builds large saltwater flow batteries that store renewable or off-peak energy for use during peak demand or outages.

The modular batteries, packaged in shipping containers, use ion-exchange membranes adapted from water treatment and can be relocated as needed.

“Our flow battery is a decentralized technology that increases renewable energy use, strengthens grid reliability, and lowers costs by aligning electricity supply with demand,” said Ellsworth Bell, co-founder of Aqua-Cell.

“The Energy Innovation Challenge provides valuable early-stage pilot opportunities for Canadian technologies like ours.”

Eguana Technologies, a global energy storage company headquartered in Calgary, will deploy nine EVOLVE lithium iron-phosphate battery systems at three City of Medicine Hat facilities.

The project will expand utility-focused functions of its EDGE Distributed Energy Resource Management System, enabling operators to manage voltage, circuit and feeder loading, balance phases, losses, and resiliency.

“Behind-the-meter batteries are often seen as backup, but their real value comes from operating as a fleet to deliver grid services,” said Brent Harris, founder and COO.

“This project lets us advance our platform, demonstrate in new environments, and expand applications.”

Raymond Chokelal, senior engineer with the city’s utility distribution systems, said the Energy Innovation Challenge introduced new possibilities to extend the life of Medicine Hat’s electricity distribution assets, as well as providing opportunities to improve power quality and system stability.

“Each kilowatt we can generate and integrate through renewable or decentralised solutions makes our system more efficient,” said Chokelal.

“We’re proud to test and refine these innovations on their way to market.”

Anouk Kendall, president of Decentralised Energy Canada said the Energy Innovation Challenge is fast-tracking Alberta’s innovation ecosystem and driving real diversification of the energy economy.

“A defining feature of our program is the way it sparks transformative synergies — Aqua-Cell is using Arcus’ data analytics to strategically deploy its batteries, which will store energy generated by TAKEnergy.”