Inovativ Deploy

[Georgeanna Abson]

TheInnovative Grid Deployment Liftoff report is focused on identifying pathways to accelerate deployment of key commercially available but underutilized advanced grid solutions on the existing transmission and distribution system to address near-term hotspots and modernize the grid to prepare for a wide range of energy futures.

During system planning, grid operators must be able to effectively evaluate and prioritize advanced technology solutions for investment (including against conventional alternatives). To prudently oversee utility proposals, regulators need to have visibility into and understand the cost-effectiveness of these technologies and how they should be strategically pursued. This requires a robust understanding of and methods for comprehensively evaluating the benefits and costs of these technologies, including benefits that are expected to occur but may be hard to value in traditional frameworks.

As an illustrative example, shifting 20% of the existing $10B investment in conventional transmission asset replacement towards an advanced transmission technology upgrade like advanced power flow control (APFC) would enable five times more APFC deployments, which could be spread across a larger portion of the grid to unlock more grid capacity while alleviating strain on existing assets and help defer upgrades. In this example, the net impact could be a 1.8x impact on transmission capacity without additional cost to ratepayers.

The Advanced Transportation Technologies and Innovative Mobility Deployment (ATTIMD) program, also known as the Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) program, provides funding to deploy, install, and operate advanced transportation technologies to improve safety, mobility, efficiency, system performance, intermodal connectivity, and infrastructure return on investment.

Partnership with the private sector or public agencies, including multimodal and multijurisdictional entities, research institutions, organizations representing transportation and technology leaders, or other transportation stakeholders, and as discussed in Section D.2 of this NOFO, applicants are required to include a partnership plan in the technical application.

Note: A multijurisdictional group is any combination of State governments, local governments, metropolitan planning agencies, transit agencies, or other political subdivisions of a State for which each member of the group has signed a written agreement to implement the ATTAIN Program across jurisdictional boundaries and is an eligible entity as described above.

The ATTIMD program will provide $60 million for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. Not less than 20 percent of the amounts made available to carry out this paragraph shall be reserved for projects serving rural areas.

Covestro is partnering with Rondo Energy to install an innovative heat battery for the first time: The Rondo Heat Battery stores intermittent renewable electricity and delivers continuous high-temperature steam, thus offers a sustainable alternative to steam generation with fossil fuels.

Rondo Heat Batteries combine century-old materials and cutting-edge automation to capture electricity and deliver high-temperature heat and power. Electrical energy is stored as heat, using bricks that have been used for heat storage at steel mills for centuries. The heat powers an ordinary boiler to deliver zero-emission steam. Renewable electricity can be intermittently stored when there is an excess available and a constant amount of steam can still be generated continuously.

For Covestro, steam generation is an important part of the production process and accounts for a large proportion of energy consumption. The learnings from this first heat battery installation will provide experience and insights for Covestro to be able to assess whether larger-scale deployments are possible.

Through the Innovative categories of the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, LPO can finance projects that deploy new or significantly improved high-impact clean energy technology (Innovative Energy) or that employ new or significantly improved technology in the manufacturing process for a qualifying clean energy technology or manufacture innovative products with an eligible technology end-use (Innovative Supply Chain).

LPO engages early with applicants and offers flexible financing that private lenders typically do not provide for projects developing innovative components for the low-carbon supply chain. By doing so, LPO can jumpstart production and minimize future supply chain bottlenecks for innovative clean energy technologies.

LPO considers projects innovative if they employ a New or Significantly Improved Technology. (See page 15 of the Program Guidance or the Title 17 Interim Final Rule for a definition of New or Significantly Improved Technology.)

New or Significantly Improved Technology refers to technologies concerned with the production, consumption, storage, or transportation of energy, including of associated critical minerals and other components or other eligible energy-related project categories, and that is not a commercial technology, and that either:

In addition to the common eligibility requirements that apply to all Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program projects, Innovative Energy and Innovative Supply Chain projects must meet several additional eligibility criteria.

The ATCMTD Program under the FAST Act is now the Advanced Transportation Technologies and Innovative Mobility Development (ATTIMD)/Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN). For past ATCMTD milestones under the FAST Act, go to the webpage here:

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) amended the ATCMTD grant program and renamed it the ATTIMTD Program. In implementing BIL, FHWA will refer to this program as the ATTAIN program. The program provides competitive grants to deploy, install, and operate advanced transportation technologies to improve safety, mobility, efficiency, system performance, intermodal connectivity, and infrastructure return on investment. Each Fiscal Year, 2022 through FY 2026, $60 million is authorized and the Federal share for each project may be up to 80 percent of the cost of the project.

The FAST Act established the STSFA program to provide grants to States or groups of States to demonstrate user-based alternative revenue mechanisms that use a user-fee structure to maintain the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The objectives of the program are the following:

One common theme linking the presentations on the deployment of innovative grid technologies was the ability of these technologies to unlock more transmission capabilities on the grid while using most of the existing resources and infrastructure. The deployment of innovative grid technologies are often more cost effective than traditional enforcement solutions and far more sustainable.

Ricardo Renedo Williams, Team Leader at DG ENER European Commission, presented the high-level perspective from the European Commission and the steps and actions it has taken to facilitate the deployment of innovative grid technologies.

Andrew Burton, Innovation Project Lead at UKPN, presented use case Modular Power Flow Control, specifically using SmartWires Power Line Guardian and Power Guardian and how it enabled them to cost effectively increase line capacity with the need the need more disruptive construction.

Moonis Vegdani, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Counties Energy, Presented use case Active Energy Orchestration, and drew attention to the importance of cyber security as the grid becomes more digitalised.

Lenart Ribnikar, Data Scientist at Elektro Gorenjska, with Andrej Souvent, Chief Executive Officer at Operato, Presented use case Dynamic Thermal Rating and their results showed that deploying Dynamic Thermal Rating can increase the loadability of transmission lines by up 1.7x.

Arsim Bytyqi, Senior Coordination at EU DSO Entity, discussed ways to improve Knowledge Sharing among DSOs. Arsim focused on the need for improvements in areas relating to aspects that are necessary for the development of the distribution grid, such as Observability and Controllability of the grid or Efficient Smart Infrastructure and Collaborative Network Planning, a more collaborative approach is needed which prioritises engagement with relevant stakeholders and places innovation as essential to meeting the DSO future needs.

"The energy transition presents an unparalleled challenge that could cost up to US$200 trillion unless we improve the financial conditions for clean energy investments. Investors, lenders, development finance institutions, and policymakers each have significant roles to play in a coordinated effort to establish a truly dynamic project financing environment," said Jennifer Steinmann, Deloitte Global Sustainability leader. "We speak with organizations every day on the numerous de-risking strategies available to forge a path forward. This report outlines a novel set of public-private initiatives that can release capital, stimulate economic growth and development, and ultimately accelerate an equitable energy transition."

A cost-efficient combination of different de-risking instruments can drive a US$40 trillion reduction in energy transition costs through 2050, but the impact, effectiveness, and efficiency of the tools are highly context-dependent. Tailoring a mix of de-risking strategies to specific market conditions, geographies, and technology maturity can help minimize the risks by:

Successful deployment of de-risking instruments across the first wave of clean energy projects can improve the risk perception of similar projects overall, further lowering financing costs for future projects. While these instruments can be effective, they entail their own costs, such as expenses for project developers, potential expenses by states and insurers, and the use of public capital for economic and financial support. Evaluating the cost efficiency of these instruments is crucial, especially in developing economies where there tend to be limited public budgets.

3a8082e126