Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending April 27. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.
REPS. KNIGHT, FOSTER INTRO ENERGY STORAGE GOALS
Reps. Steve Knight (R-Calif.) and Bill Foster (D-Ill.) have led the introduction of a bipartisan bill (H.R. 5610) that would establish a set of concrete innovation goals in the coming years for energy storage technologies. The Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act is modeled after similar “moonshot” initiatives, including John F. Kennedy’s original goal of landing a man on the moon that propelled the U.S. past Russia in the space race. The same type of moonshot goals can be applied to technologies such as energy and battery storage as the U.S. looks to keep up with and surpass China in the global clean energy race.
“The BEST Act wisely embraces the ambitious yet achievable ‘moonshot’ approach to expanding U.S. energy and battery storage leadership, which diversifies and strengthens the grid by boosting everything from constant-running nuclear to intermittent renewable power,” ClearPath Action Executive Director Rich Powell said. “The world will be increasingly hungry for such technologies and it’s important that the U.S. stay in front of China and others in their deployment.”
Rich and ClearPath graphics guru Mitch Kersey produced a short and snappy video explaining why these type of “moonshot” grid-scale storage, advanced nuclear and other goals will effectively prioritize the Department of Energy’s efforts that can be a mile wide and an inch deep
Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced 13 projects that will receive about $60 million to support cost-shared research and development in advanced nuclear technologies. The selections — broken down into categories pertaining to nuclear demonstration readiness, advanced reactor development, and regulatory assistance grants — are the first under the Office of Nuclear Energy’s “U.S. Industry Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Technology Development” effort. “Making these new investments is an important step to reviving and revitalizing nuclear energy, and ensuring that our nation continues to benefit from this clean, reliable, resilient source of electricity,” Perry said.
The announcement includes $40 million in DOE funding for NuScale’s small modular reactor design effort and nearly $5 million for a project to design and license application development for a facility capable of handling high-assay, low-enriched uranium and production of uranium fuels required for advanced nuclear fleets. DETAILS FOR ALL RECIPIENTS
Separately, Perry this week also signed a joint agreement on nuclear and clean energy with France during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Washington. “Today’s signing demonstrates the shared commitment of France and the United States to nuclear power as an affordable, safe and secure source of clean energy,” Perry said.
BIG POWER, OIL FORM NEW CARBON CAPTURE COALITION
Power and oil giants have formed a “voluntary association … to promote the energy industry’s interests in issues related to carbon capture and storage, to improve the greenhouse gas emissions profile of fossil fuels, and to enhance the economic opportunities from use of CO2 with benefits for the economy, energy security, and the environment.” Companies include BP, Chevron, Southern Company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America and Denbury Resources. AXIOS
Meanwhile, Gov. Matt Mead says his state’s Wyoming Integrated Test Center will be used to test new carbon capture technologies being developed in Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Environment has authorized the Japan Coal Energy Center and Kawasaki Heavy Industries to use the center to conduct testing, which will involve an investment of as much as $9.1 million. ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWS NUGGETS
The world’s first AP1000 nuclear reactor unit has started initial fuel loading in China, a major step that could help identical units being built at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle expansion. “Today we have reached a tremendous milestone for Westinghouse and our AP1000 plant technology,” Westinghouse President and CEO José Emeterio Gutiérrez said. WESTINGHOUSE
Officials from the Departments of Commerce, Energy and State joined U.S. nuclear industry representatives in a three-day trade delegation to Saudi Arabia this week. The delegation included 30 people representing 20 companies, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.
A new National Hydropower Association report recommends developing market changes that recognize the energy reliability and security role pumped storage plays and evaluating energy storage technologies based on their abilities to provide key supporting services to the overall electric grid. The report also recommends streamlining licenses for low-impact pumped storage hydropower and developing standard evaluation criteria for all forms of energy storage to better compare and evaluate different types of storage. HYDROWORLD
MIT Energy Initiative and Argonne National Lab teamed up for a report underscoring how nuclear and renewable power can work in tandem under a more diverse and reliable grid. “We find that operating nuclear plants in a more flexible manner, including varying power output to integrate renewable energy and supplying valuable operating reserves and frequency regulation, presents a potential ‘win-win-win’,” MIT’s Jesse Jenkins noted in a highly useful Twitter thread explaining the findings. Benefits include lower electricity costs for consumers and increased revenues for nuclear plant owners.
THE PATH AHEAD
MONDAYClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell joins other experts at an event on “Conservative Prescriptions on Climate Change” hosted by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. DETAILS
