Upcoming
Event
TOU Best Practices: How to Champion Rate Transition and Create Effective Customer Strategies
Energy Central
June 23, 2021 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET
While every state will have different TOU mandates, each utility will want to pursue a strategy that maximizes customer adoption and satisfaction. To accomplish that, utilities need analytics and insights to help them target, tailor and refine their strategy. These analytics and insights include revenue & bill impact studies of alternative TOU designs as well as personalized rate comparisons that serve as the basis for marketing, education, and outreach campaigns.
Our Panel:
Hear from our panel of industry experts, that includes both IOUs and POUs, that have had to implement TOU programs based on completely different sets of mandates. Leaders from Consumers Energy, PSEG-LI and Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) will share their TOU Best Practices, along with advice on how to successfully champion these transitions internally. In addition, the panelists will discuss the value of GridX’s revenue-grade Enterprise Rate Engine to create the analytics and insight necessary to pursue their TOU roll out strategies and maintain high customer satisfaction.
Upcoming
Event
Improving Reliability and Resiliency Multifamily Facilities with CHP
U.S. DOE CHP Technical Assistance Partnerships
June 23, 2021 3:00 to 4:00 pm ET
Speakers:
Kyle Krow – Strategic Accounts Manager, AEGIS
Eric Morrow – mCHP Applications Manager, Lochnivar
Marina Badoian-Kriticos – Assistant Director, Upper-West CHP TAP
Deborah Nabaloga – Research Assistant, Upper-West CHP TAP
News
Wärtsilä, Finnish utility plan commercial-scale synthetic methane plant
DIESEL & GAS TURBINE WORLDWIDE
Jun 17, 2021
The plant will also be the first in the country to produce carbon-neutral, synthetic methane on a commercial scale, the companies said.
Synthetic methane is produced from captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced with renewable energy. In May 2020, the parties signed a cooperation agreement for a concept study examining the profitability of the Power-to-Gas plant in connection with the Vantaa Energy waste-to-energy plant. The decision to continue the project is based on the outcome supporting the further planning and development of the study.
The EU has set a common target of climate neutrality by 2050, and has recently raised its emissions reduction target to 55% by 2030. Finland aims for carbon neutrality by 2035. The plant will represent a crucial step in Vantaa Energy’s decision to be fossil-free by 2026. Phasing out the use of fossil fuels utilizing versatile technologies is an important enabler for carbon-neutral Vantaa Energy in 2030. The Power-to-Gas plant will allow Vantaa Energy to start using electricity produced from renewable sources for reducing CO₂ emissions in district heating, other applications where gas is used, and transportation. The project demonstrates sector coupling of heat, electricity and transportation, which provides Vantaa Energy completely new business opportunities.
Wärtsilä will lead the pre-engineering phase of the project. Once completed, the project will produce synthetic methane from renewable electricity sources by extracting hydrogen from water, as well as extract CO₂ out of emissions from an existing waste to energy plant. The resultant methane will be sufficient for use in up to 200 trucks per day, and replace conventional, fossil natural gas in district heating during heating peaks in winter.
“The unique and excellent location of the plant has many advantages. We have access to clean water and renewable electricity using wind energy, and the waste heat produced in the process can be utilized for district heating. The location also enables connections between the electricity, heating, and transport sectors. The energy sector plays a significant role in climate change mitigation, and we are in the vanguard of contributing to a speedy transition to clean energy production,” said Jukka Toivonen, CEO, Vantaa Energy.
“The clock is ticking and we need to accelerate the move towards decarbonization before it’s too late. This project showcases our vision of working towards a 100% renewable energy future, in which sector coupling and future fuels will play a decisive role. By cooperating with Vantaa Energy in this state-of-the-art project with us leading the pre-engineering, we are developing our Power-to-X technology and integration competences to meet future market needs. Collaboration with customers and other stakeholders supports our vision,” said Saara Kujala, general manager, Business Development, Wärtsilä Energy.
Wärtsilä continues to be a front-runner in developing the know-how and modelling of future energy systems, including Power-to-X applications that will have a key role in meeting decarbonisation targets globally. Wärtsilä has modelled cost-optimal, 100% renewable energy systems for 145 regions and countries. The results indicate that 100% renewable energy systems need over 900 GW of P2G capacity for long-term and seasonal energy storage. Once operational, the plant of Vantaa Energy will also highlight Finland’s support for the European Commission’s plans for the creation of a European hydrogen economy.
Wärtsilä’s pre-engineering work is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, and the project is scheduled for completion in early 2025.
News
Massive power outage in Puerto Rico affects hundreds of thousands amid growing outrage
CBS
Jun 16, 2021
Luma Energy, a private company that took over the island's power transmission and distribution system on June 1, said three units were knocked offline for reasons not immediately known. At first, the company said some 190,000 clients had been affected, but it later tweeted that power had been restored to more than 180,000 clients and that another 156,700 were still without electricity.
Various spokeswomen did not return calls for comment.
The latest outage unleashed a flood of complaints on social media as anger spread among thousands of people who were forced to throw out food and refrigerated medication including insulin in recent days. Some also complained about damaged appliances as lights flickered on and off since Thursday's outage that left 900,000 people in the dark.
Wednesday's outage came just hours after Luma warned that services would be interrupted nightly for the next three days given pre-scheduled maintenance at one plant and interruptions in the generation of power run by Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority. The most recent outage is not related to the upcoming interruptions in service, Luma said.
It's the latest challenge to hit a company that has come under scrutiny amid high expectations that it would briskly solve problems despite having to rely on aging infrastructure and a fragile power grid that has not been strengthened since Hurricane Maria razed it in 2017 as a Category 4 storm, leaving some clients without power for up to a year.
"These days it's been running like it's Maria all over again," she said. "The entire neighborhood is noisy."
The outages have been so constant lately that several mayors have declared states of emergency and handed out generators and ice to those most in need, as well as hired private crews to restore power after saying that Luma informed them they lacked enough brigades.
Earlier Wednesday, Luma said it was still probing what caused a large fire at a main substation that led to Thursday's outage, adding that the investigation won't be finalized for another four to six weeks.
Luma is a consortium made up of Calgary, Alberta-based Atco and Quanta Services Inc. of Houston. It serves 1.5 million clients as part of a 15-year contract with Puerto Rico's government, which remains the owner and operator of the island's power generators.
News
U.S. Energy Department seeks to reduce hydrogen costs
DIESEL & GAS TURBINE WORLDWIDE
Jun 10, 2021
“The Energy Earthshots are an all-hands-on-deck call for innovation, collaboration and acceleration of our clean energy economy by tackling the toughest remaining barriers to quickly deploy emerging clean energy technologies at scale,” said Secretary Jennifer Granholm. “First up: Hydrogen Shot, which sets an ambitious yet achievable cost target to accelerate innovations and spur demand of clean hydrogen. Clean hydrogen is a game-changer. It will help decarbonize high-polluting heavy-duty and industrial sectors, while delivering good-paying clean energy jobs and realizing a net-zero economy by 2050.”
The Hydrogen Shot establishes a framework for clean hydrogen deployment in the American Jobs Plan, which includes support for demonstration projects. Industries are beginning to implement clean hydrogen to reduce emissions, but there are still many hurdles to deploying it at scale. Currently, hydrogen from renewable energy costs about US$5 per kilogram. By achieving Hydrogen Shot’s 80% cost reduction goal, the program can unlock a five-fold increase in demand by increasing clean hydrogen production from pathways such as renewables, nuclear, and thermal conversion, the department said in a news release.
Partner
News
Baker Hughes, Air Products announce hydrogen collaboration
DIESEL & GAS TURBINE WORLDWIDE
Jun 10, 2021
As part of the collaboration, Baker Hughes will provide Air Products with advanced hydrogen compression and gas turbine technology for global projects, including NovaLT16 turbines for Air Products’ net-zero hydrogen energy complex in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and advanced compression technology for the NEOM carbon-free hydrogen project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“Air Products chose Baker Hughes for its leading-edge compression and gas turbine offerings and robust hydrogen experience,” said Dr. Samir J. Serhan, chief operation officer, Air Products. “This advanced technology is another key step toward achieving economically viable blue and green hydrogen and net-zero targets.”
News
Leading Microgrid Companies Launch Coalition to Encourage Pro-Microgrid Government Policy
Microgrid Knowledge
Jun 4, 2021
The coalition was announced on the final day of Microgrid 2021, a four-week virtual conference hosted by Microgrid Knowledge, which attracted more than 4,000 participants.
“Microgrids are an essential technology in an era of wildfires, severe freezes, hurricanes, derechos and other climate disruptions that increasingly demonstrate the vulnerability of our electric grid,” said Cameron Brooks, executive director of Think Microgrid. “Most states, however, have not determined how microgrids will be incorporated into the physical grid and the market design. Meanwhile, Congress is beginning to define the role of microgrids in infrastructure improvements and climate policy.”
“Think Microgrid intends to help drive these efforts forward, leveraging the deep knowledge and experience of our founding companies,” Brooks said.
The founding members are Ameresco, Bloom Energy, CleanSpark, Compass Energy, Concord Engineering Group, DCO Energy, Eaton, Enchanted Rock, HOMER Energy by UL, PowerSecure, PXiSE Energy Solutions and Schneider Electric.
In citing their reasons for forming the coalition, the founding members noted the need for energy that is more resilient, reliable, cost effective and sustainable.
“Microgrids can protect critical infrastructure, reduce emissions and prepare communities for climate induced severe weather. Bloom Energy is proud to support the Think Microgrid initiative after powering our customers through 335 outages in 2020 alone,” said Charles Fox, vice president of policy at Bloom Energy.
Allan Schurr, chief commercial officer at Enchanted Rock, a company whose microgrids kept power flowing to many commercial facilities during Texas’ deep freeze in February, said that Think Microgrid will highlight the important role microgrids play in the energy transition “as the most cost-effective way to local and system resiliency and we are excited to be a part of it.”
“Microgrids are increasingly recognized for their ability to provide backup power for critical infrastructure, including defense installations, communities, hospitals and large commercial and industrial facilities, such as water utilities and data centers, and also to provide critical services to the grid when it is unable to meet demand,” Schurr said.
“Our goal is to pave the way for well-defined microgrid policies as a critical component to resiliency, sustainability and cost savings. The time to act is now.” — Mike Bakas, Ameresco
CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford said that the aging grid “has reached a critical point and microgrids can be a solution to many of the prevailing issues. Our goal is to help facilitate these grid improvements, bring cost savings to customers and stakeholders, while increasing the visibility of clean energy initiatives worldwide.”
“As an early leader in large microgrid development and operation, we are pleased to participate in the Think Microgrid initiative,” said Gary Fromer, CEO of DCO Energy. “We must educate customers, regulators and other stakeholders now on why and how microgrids are essential in enabling energy resilience and sustainability.”
Combined Heat & Power eCatalog of Recognized Package CHP Systems
Packaged CHP Systems:
Rigorous Recognition Process
The Packaged Combined Heat and Power Catalog (eCatalog) is a voluntary public/private partnership designed to increase deployment of CHP in commercial, institutional and multi-family buildings and manufacturing plants. The core of the eCatalog are CHP Packagers who commit to provide pre-engineered and tested Packaged CHP systems that meet or exceed DOE performance requirements and CHP Solution Providers who commit to provide responsible installation, commissioning, maintenance and service of recognized Packaged CHP systems and also provide a single point of project responsibility.
Customer Engagement Partners: Incentivizing CHP in Your Area
Maximize Your CHP Investment When You Install Recognized Systems
An essential element in market success of energy efficient technologies, such as CHP, is a robust customer engagement partner to educate end-users and provide assistance through the project development process. States, localities and utilities that are implementing programs and policies to increase the use of CHP in support of key economic, security, efficiency and environmental goals can integrate the eCatalog into their efforts by linking recognized CHP packages offered by Solution Providers or Packagers in their region to their programs. The eCatalog provides a unique platform for convening recognized CHP equipment and suppliers with state, local and utility market outreach, customer acquisition and incentive programs.
eCATALOG PACKAGED CHP SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
Packaged CHP System standardized1 electrical and thermal performance data presented for comparison in the eCatalog have been reviewed and recognized as accurate based on engineering data and available performance test data submitted by the Packagers. Emissions data presented in the eCatalog are based on either third-party emissions test results when available, or prime mover manufacture’s emissions certification data, both using standard EPA test methodologies or equivalent. When evaluating CHP performance for a particular project, it is important to use final performance data from the Packager or Solution Provider that reflects specific site conditions such as actual fuel characteristics, ambient temperatures and altitude, and thermal load temperatures or pressures. As an example, hot water thermal capacity ratings in the eCatalog are based on a standard hot water supply temperature of 180 F, with packager specified return temperatures for each system. Actual hot water available from a packaged CHP system for a project will depend on the specific temperature requirements of the hot water supply and return at the site, and may vary from data presented in the eCatalog.
“Even a small blip on the power grid can disrupt our production equipment and cause six to eight hours of lost production time. With the CHP systems, if there is a power blip we go into island mode and don't experience any disruption.”
Learning
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Combined heat and power (CHP) systems can provide reliable, flexible, low-cost, energy efficiency to a variety of industrial, commercial, and institutional energy consumers.
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CHP IN ACTION
Is there any potential, and are there real opportunities in my market? Where has CHP been installed? Is CHP a good fit for my facility?
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Interested in what others in your field of use are doing with CHP Systems? Case studies provide even more information about CHP solutions in neighborhood or in your business world.
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