Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending Nov. 2. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.
DIVING DEEP INTO ENERGY STORAGE
Storing energy on various time scales ranging from fractions of a second to hours or even days is paramount as the U.S. and world move toward a lower carbon intensity. It can be beneficial to all power sources, from nuclear to solar. The expansion and innovation of storage has the potential to reduce the need for high-cost power during periods of peak demand – such as during the coldest mornings or hottest afternoons – and keeping consumer electricity prices low.
But a number of pieces are still missing for that to happen. ClearPath has a couple of ideas to consider:
That includes fixing a disjointed federal research effort that has yielded tech development but should be better focused to facilitate breakthroughs.
ClearPath is advocating for a new crosscutting energy storage initiative among several Department of Energy offices to focus the various storage-related R&D programs around the development of grid-scale, low-cost, long-duration storage technologies would increase stewardship of taxpayer dollars, while facilitating efficiency and reliability improvements for the U.S. electricity grid. This initiative should consider the research needed to advance low-cost, long-duration energy storage, opportunities for integration between vehicle and grid-scale technologies and have standardized, ambitious technology goals to spur innovative solutions to this important effort in the private sector as well.
The world must also go beyond existing lithium ion batteries, which have limitations that include cost and a higher likelihood for overheating and degrading. The cobalt used in these batteries is also mined in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has lax child labor and safety oversight.
Instead, more public and private focus is needed on other technologies such as subsurface pumped hydro, compressed air energy storage, underground thermal-energy storage, concentrated solar power, or the conversion of renewable energy to storable hydrogen for future use.
Energy storage technologies should be allowed to participate in wholesale electric power markets. In order to do so, specific energy storage resources should be selected and clearly defined for participation as a wholesale seller and buyer within the market. This would allow energy storage technologies to participate, when capable, within the market and can continue to encourage growth and innovation within the energy storage sector.
Technology-inclusive policies that assist nascent technologies and demonstrate commercial performance would facilitate the next generation of clean technologies in the traditionally risk-averse utility marketplace. The current Investment Tax Credit (ITC) doesn’t facilitate investment in energy storage technologies unless they are paired directly with another qualifying technology (i.e. renewables). Energy storage technologies can provide a variety of ancillary benefits to the grid separate from any generation type. Federal investment incentives should be application neutral.
EIA: CARBON FROM U.S. POWER DROPS 28% SINCE 2005
The importance of energy storage is further underscored by the trend towards clean energy, especially from the U.S. power sector. Carbon emissions from the U.S. power sector have fallen 28 percent since 2005, mainly due to more natural gas and renewables, the Energy Information Administration reported this week. In 2005, non-carbon sources accounted for 28 percent of the U.S. electricity mix. By 2017, that share had grown to 38 percent. Almost all of this growth was in renewables, such as wind and solar.
And it comes as power generation overall in the U.S. has climbed back up to pre-recession levels.
PERRY HEADING TO EASTERN EUROPE TO TOUT LNG, NUCLEAR
Energy Secretary Rick Perry is heading to Eastern Europe next week to announce a new liquefied natural gas deal with Poland and also push U.S. cooperation in the region on nuclear power. He will also travel to Ukraine, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which all rely heavily on Russian natural gas.
Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette also this week noted that Asia is the center of growth in energy demand and offers a great opportunity to expand U.S. LNG exports. The U.S. is working with Japan and others to build facilities for U.S. LNG exports and improve their energy security, Brouillette told reporters in Tokyo while attending a global LNG conference. Japan is the world’s largest importer of LNG.
REPORT: 420 MW OF SMALL HYDRO DEVELOPMENT PLANNED
A new report prepared by Oak Ridge National Laboratory says about 420 MW of new small hydro development (projects of 10 MW or less) is currently planned at 165 projects. By comparison, small hydro totals about 3.6 GW of hydroelectric capacity in the country, out of a total of 80 GW of hydro capacity. Adding hydropower generation equipment to existing municipal water and other infrastructure – dubbed small conduit or energy-recovery hydropower – is the dominant trend in recent and planned new hydropower development, the report says.
THE PATH AHEAD
NOV. 13 ClearPath, U.S. Nuclear Industry Council, Nuclear Innovation Alliance, Third Way and Atlantic Council host a discussion on the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act. Speakers include Idaho National Lab Director Mark Peters, NuScale Power Chief Strategy Officer Christopher Colbert, Pillsbury Law Senior Associate Anne Leidich and Sarah Ladislaw, director of the energy and national security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. RSVP
NOV. 28 Atomic Wings Lunch & Learn on Public-Private Partnerships in Nuclear Energy, hosted by DOE and X-energy. Speakers include Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Office of Nuclear Energy Deputy Assistant Sec. Shane Johnson, Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols and ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell. RSVP
