New U.S. DOE Report on Accelerating Deployment of Grid Solutions to Lower Costs & Improve Reliability

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DOE Releases New Report on Accelerating Deployment of Grid Options to Decrease Prices and Enhance Reliability

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Division of Power (DOE) as we speak introduced the discharge of its newest Pathways to Business Liftoff report, targeted on unleashing the potential of superior grid options. “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Innovative Grid Deployment,” marks the tenth installment within the Liftoff series which launched in March 2023. This report demonstrates how commercially out there superior grid options—reminiscent of superior conductors, dynamic line score, and vitality storage—can affordably improve the present grid’s capability to help upwards of 20–100 GW peak demand development. These applied sciences would additionally enhance grid reliability, resilience, and affordability for shoppers. Close to-term deployment of commercially out there however underutilized superior grid options can considerably bolster the resilience of home vitality methods and help the Biden-Harris Administration’s formidable objective of a net-zero emissions financial system by 2050.

“The majority of the nation’s transmission and distribution lines are drastically overdue for an upgrade, which is why President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is so critical to bring the grid up to date,” stated U.S Secretary of Power Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE’s new Innovative Grid Deployment Liftoff report outlines the existing tools that can be deployed in less than 5 years to modernize the nation’s power sector making it more secure and reliable to deliver cheaper, cleaner power to American consumers.”

Key findings from the report embrace:

• Close to-term options can be found: A number of superior grid options are commercially out there as we speak that may assist utilities and regulators reply to grid pressures within the near-term—together with speedy demand development, reliability and resilience priorities, and new vitality technology connections. These options embrace superior transmission (e.g., superior conductors) and grid enhancing applied sciences (e.g., dynamic line score, superior energy movement management, vitality storage) in addition to system automation and situational consciousness options (e.g., superior distribution administration methods, distributed vitality useful resource administration methods). These options can function a bridge whereas critically wanted new grid infrastructure capability continues to be constructed out long-term.
• The present grid has untapped worth: Deploying these applied sciences may improve the capability of the present grid to help 20–100 GW of incremental peak demand when put in individually, whereas bettering system reliability, resilience, and affordability. This capability impression is on the order of magnitude of the 91 GW of peak demand development that North American Electrical Reliability Company (NERC) tasks for the following decade (as of December 2023).
• Options are low value and fast to deploy: Most of those options are lower than 1 / 4 of the price of standard alternate options and might be comparatively fast to deploy since they make use of current infrastructure.
• Liftoff inside three to 5 years is feasible: Liftoff will occur when utilities and regulators comprehensively worth and combine superior options as a part of core grid funding, planning, and operations. Pursuing 6-12 massive operational, “no regrets” deployments throughout a various set of utility contexts can derisk adoption at scale and construct repeatable operational and funding fashions. Deployments could possibly be achieved with out growing prices to family ratepayers.

Biden-Harris Administration’s Dedication to Strengthening the Nation’s Transmission and Distribution Grid

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has introduced over $13.1 billion to the nation’s transmission and distribution grid. Due to this transformative funding, DOE is investing within the deployment of many superior applied sciences recognized within the Liftoff report by way of the Grid Deployment Workplace’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Programa $10.5 billion grant program that’s enhancing grid flexibility and bettering the resilience of the ability system. On October 23, 2023, DOE introduced the primary spherical of GRIP funding that totaled almost $3.5 billion and is supporting 58 tasks in 44 states throughout the US. This funding represents the federal authorities’s largest single direct funding in vital grid infrastructure and catalyzes greater than $8 billion whole in private and non-private investments. In the course of the first spherical of GRIP funding, DOE chosen twelve tasks that embrace funding in grid-enhancing applied sciences (GETs) like dynamic line rating (DLR) or distributed energy resource management (INTESTINES).

A second GRIP funding alternative is targeted on creating complete options that hyperlink grid communications methods and operations to extend resilience and scale back energy outages and threats and deploying superior applied sciences reminiscent of distributed vitality sources and battery methods to offer important grid providers. These tasks will leverage each private and non-private capital to finally de-risk environment friendly and equitable deployment and catalyze future non-public funding of superior grid options, accelerating the timeline to reaching integration at pace and scale.

DOE develops its Pathways to Business Liftoff experiences with intensive stakeholder engagement and system modeling. Further experiences shall be added within the coming months. Discover out extra details about the experiences here. DOE continues to encourage public enter and stakeholder engagement for its liftoff experiences by way of business boards and by way of electronic mail to liftoff@hq.doe.gov.

Study extra about funding packages to help superior grid options deployments at DOE’s Grid Deployment Office and Loan Programs Office. Moreover, technical help sources can be found to help grid stakeholders throughout a spread of subjects, together with the State Technical Assistance and Grid Resilience Assistance packages.

On Might 13^th2024, DOE will host a webinar that includes senior DOE leaders to discover the “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Innovative Grid Deployment” report. Please register here.