WHY DOE’S BUDGET REQUEST HAS EXCITING NEWS FOR STORAGE

There was a surprising and welcome inclusion in the Department of Energy’s FY20 budget proposal that could make serious headway toward efforts to develop long-duration grid-scale energy storage options.

In a new blog, ClearPath’s lead storage analyst Faith Smith dove into the budget proposal and unlocked a couple of highlights aimed at helping consolidate and better target energy storage R&D efforts across multiple DOE offices, many of which also currently primarily focus on transportation rather than grid-scale storage.

That includes a new Advanced Energy Storage Initiative across multiple DOE offices, as well as a new “launchpad” hosted at Pacific Northwest National Lab focused on testing and evaluating battery and potentially other grid-scale storage materials and systems.

As Faith (with the help of ClearPath’s graphics guru Mitch Kersey) explains, this is all part of a vital missing piece of a larger clean energy puzzle. With wind and solar an ever-increasing percentage of our power generation, we need a broad portfolio of technologies at low cost to speed the transition to cleaner energy. That starts with smart investments in next-generation grid-scale energy storage and batteries.

STORAGE “MOONSHOT” MODEL FOR OTHER CLEAN ENERGY TOOLS

At a DOE budget hearing Wednesday, House Energy and Water Appropriations ranking member Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) asked Under Secretary for Energy Mark Menezes whether similar “moonshot” efforts outlined for storage in the budget should also happen for advanced nuclear and carbon capture.

“That’s an excellent suggestion and recognition of what you can accomplish when you do things through crosscutting and a collaborative effort,” Menezes responded. On advanced nuclear specifically, “we are already seeing quite a bit of interest in the private sector,” he said. “But I think to put a challenge out there shows that the government is interested in supporting the technology breakthroughs that it will take for us to maintain our global leadership in the nuclear area.”

After Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) lauded the PNNL launchpad idea, Menezes noted that the “next big breakthrough” for energy will be storage technologies. “We’ve identified that as our big commitment, that’s where I think we can bring true changes in the way that we provide electricity across this country,” he said.
 

DOE announced up to $20 million in federal funding for cooperative agreements that will help accelerate projects as part of the Office of Fossil Energy’s Carbon Storage Program.

Idaho Power claims one of the lowest-priced solar deals, at 2.2 cents/kWh.
 

CHARTING ADVANCED NUCLEAR PROGRESS IN CONGRESS

A bipartisan strategy reintroduced last week by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) was highlighted as the latest move to boost next-generation nuclear technologies by Congress.

The Nuclear Energy Leadership Act was an attempt “to take the framework that had been set in the 115th congress and build upon it,” Ben Reinke, top Senate energy panel nuclear expert, said at this week’s latest Atomic Wings briefing co-hosted by DOE and ClearPath.

Successful multi-year efforts to have two other advanced nuclear measures – Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA) and Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) – approved by the last Congress and signed into law led to an updated version of NELA. “While these things were going, we were of course learning new things,” Reinke said.

DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy and U.S. Nuclear Industry Council next Wednesday host the inaugural Up & Atom Morning Briefing, featuring Idaho National Lab Director Mark Peters.
 

RICH’S TAKE: WHY NELA SHOULD BE CLOSELY TRACKED

In his latest whiteboard video, ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell walks through the main details of NELA and why it is worth closely tracking.

That includes establishing specific goals to align federal, lab and private-sector efforts; developing a 10-year strategic plan that supports advanced nuclear R&D goals; providing initial domestic supplies of the fuel needed for many U.S. advanced reactor designs; a reliable testing ground for advanced fuels and materials; and nuclear engineering scholarships to maintain a robust pipeline of nuclear engineering talent.
 

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