Dive Transient:
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The Division of Vitality on Tuesday awarded $2.2 billion to eight transmission initiatives in 18 states that would develop grid capability by about 13 GW.
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The initiatives embody about 600 miles of latest transmission and 400 miles of reconductored wiring in addition to grid-enhancing applied sciences, long-duration vitality storage, photo voltaic vitality and microgrids. The awards are from DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program; undertaking sponsors will present about $7.8 billion in matching funding.
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The awards are a part of a Biden administration effort to “to aggressively advance a extra fashionable grid, a extra energy-secure future, a grid that’s extra dependable and resilient and one which delivers extra clear and inexpensive vitality,” Ali Zaidi, the White Home nationwide local weather advisor, stated Monday throughout a media briefing.
Dive Perception:
The grants from DOE’s $10.5 billion GRIP program — funded by the bipartisan infrastructure legislation — mark the second funding spherical below this system. In October, DOE awarded practically $3.5 billion in grants to help 58 initiatives in 44 states.
The funding introduced Tuesday is from GRIP’s $5 billion grid innovation program, which focuses on initiatives that use new approaches to transmission, storage and distribution infrastructure to enhance grid resilience and reliability.
The profitable initiatives are:
The North Plains Connector Interregional Innovation, a 3-GW, 525-kV direct-current undertaking that may join the Western Electrical energy Coordinating Council, the Midcontinent Impartial System Operator and the Southwest Energy Pool. It obtained $700 million to go along with $2.9 billion in recipient cost-sharing. Its utility supporters embody Allete, Avista, Minnkota Energy Cooperative, Montana-Dakota Utilities, NorthWestern Vitality, Otter Tail Energy, Portland Normal Electrical and Puget Sound Vitality. The Montana Division of Commerce led the applying effort with DOE.
The California Harnessing Superior Dependable Grid Enhancing Applied sciences for Transmission undertaking, a public-private partnership that may reconductor greater than 100 miles of transmission traces with superior conductor applied sciences and deploy dynamic line scores to rapidly assist combine extra renewable vitality in California, in keeping with DOE. The division awarded the undertaking $600.6 million to go along with a $900.8 million match. The undertaking, sponsored by the California Vitality Fee, additionally helps transmission interconnection reform via course of enhancements, an interconnection portal, workforce funding and academic useful resource improvement, the division stated. The California Impartial System Operator, Pacific Fuel and Electrical and Southern California Edison have been companions on the grant software.
Energy Up New England, which incorporates new and upgraded factors of interconnection for 4.8 GW of offshore wind and a long-duration vitality storage system. It combines $389.3 million in DOE funding with practically $500 million in recipient backing. Venture builders supporting the applying embody Elevate Renewables, Eversource Vitality, Nationwide Grid and an unnamed multi-day vitality storage know-how supplier.
The Dependable Electrical Strains: Infrastructure Enlargement Framework undertaking, which requires utilizing superior conductor cables to spice up transmission capability in present rights-of-way. It’s going to enhance grid reliability in 4 states and 5 tribal nations and allow greater than 500 MW of renewable vitality to return on-line, DOE stated. The undertaking, sponsored by the Utah Workplace of Vitality Improvement, was awarded $249.6 million in federal funding to go along with $252 million in recipient funding.
The Tribal Vitality Resilience and Sovereignty microgrid undertaking, which can serve the Hoopa Valley, Yurok, Karuk and Blue Lake Rancheria tribes in an outage-prone space in Northern California. The undertaking, sponsored by the Redwood Coast Vitality Authority, obtained $87.6 million from the DOE to go along with $89 million in matched funding.
The Information Middle Flexibility as a Grid Enhancing Expertise undertaking in Virginia and South Carolina, which can obtain $85 million from DOE and be matched with $106 million. The Virginia Division of Vitality and its companions plan to make use of the funding to construct battery vitality storage techniques on the Iron Mountain knowledge middle in Virginia. In addition they intend to deploy a mix of turbine, photo voltaic and battery storage applied sciences on the Grace Advanced in South Carolina, in keeping with DOE.
The North Carolina Revolutionary Transmission Rebuild undertaking, which requires rebuilding a 230-kV transmission line with high-temperature, low-sag superior conductors and monopole metal buildings to boost resilience and reliability. DOE gave the Duke Vitality-supported undertaking $57.1 million to go along with $57.1 million in sponsor funding. The Lee-Milburnie rebuild undertaking provides 1,600 MW of interconnection capability in japanese North Carolina, which can assist interconnect proposed photo voltaic initiatives and potential wind improvement, in keeping with testimony filed on Could 28 on the North Carolina Utilities Fee by the Southern Alliance for Clear Vitality and different teams.
Clear Path New York, a transmission undertaking from the New York Energy Authority, Invenergy and EnergyRe that goals to ship 1.3 GW of renewable vitality from upstate New York to New York Metropolis. It landed $30 million in federal funding to go along with $3.2 billion in sponsor investments.
“With these awards the Vitality Division is addressing a number of the most acute challenges dealing with our vitality system, together with the necessity to join extra clear vitality to the facility grid and making the grid extra environment friendly,” Harry Godfrey, managing director of federal funding and manufacturing at Superior Vitality United, stated in a press release.
DOE expects to challenge the second spherical of funding picks for GRIP’s Grid Resilience Utility and Business Grants program and its Sensible Grid Grants program later this 12 months.
