By: Keshav Ahuja

The snow has finally melted, and the debate settled. The primary cause of the Texas electrical grid failure during the Great Freeze of 2021? The loss of fossil fuel generation capacity. The solution… 

Texas citizens were in the dark and cold when they needed these services the most. The blackout exposed several vulnerabilities, highlighting the lack of critical equipment weatherization. How do we move forward to avoid this disaster again? Some say more gas-fired generation, others say distributed solar. But maybe the real answer for Texas is hydrogen.

Texas is the nation’s largest (gray) hydrogen producer on the back of the state’s massive petrochemical sector, relying on cheap natural gas. However, the state also has the largest wind capacity at nearly 40 GW and a solar capacity of 7 GW. There is a clear pathway to CO2-free (green) hydrogen: renewable energy to power electrolysis. Apart from production infrastructure, Texas has 1,600 miles of dedicated hydrogen pipeline infrastructure and houses three hydrogen storage fields with a cumulative capacity of 6 Bcf.

With more extreme weather events than ever before, it’s clear that Texas need a more resilient (while sustainable) energy mix. Hydrogen is a viable solution – Texas already has the basic infrastructure in place for large scale deployment. The key to expanding the state’s hydrogen economy, though, will be investment into planning, technology, and infrastructure to reduce costs and a commitment by regulatory agencies and governing bodies (State of TX and ERCOT, that’s you!) to advance green energy and think outside the box. Climate Impact Capital has some big ideas; contact us and we’ll help make the grid like our state – TX strong.

The post Can H2 solve the Texas freeze? appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.

By Keshav Ahuja

Energy storage is one of the most discussed topics today and is expected to be a key component of the global energy transition and stabilizing the grid for Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards. Over the last decade, energy storage technologies have continued to evolve, adapt, and innovate in response to changing energy requirements and regulatory policies.

Energy storage technologies are broadly categorized into four segments: electrical, thermal, mechanical, and electrochemical storage. Though electrochemical (batteries) and mechanical (hydrogen/pumped hydropower) storage remain the most common forms of energy adoption, research on alternate storage technologies offering higher power capacities, faster charging rates, or greater cost effectiveness is rapidly ongoing.

New Innovations in Storage

Technologies that have gained traction in recent years include compressed-air energy storage, gravity storage, aqueous-air battery, flow battery, and prismatic battery. Furthermore, there is ongoing research to develop new materials that can significantly improve battery efficiencies and support higher charging cycles, such as super-capacitors. Although pumped hydro storage accounts for the majority of installed global energy storage capacity, lithium-ion based storage is expected to record the highest growth rates, with almost all new upcoming storage capacities slated to adopt the technology.

A wide range of technologies are available for energy storage systems, with varying approaches to manage power supply and build a resilient energy infrastructure.

Mind the Gap

The challenge is that each solution comes with its own set of pros and cons. However, the core issue remains: can energy storage enhance grid flexibility, provide economies of scale in transmission and distribution, and offer better power quality and cost savings to customers? This requires a system-wide study to understand needs, applications, economics, and solution potentials. There are also suites of solutions to improve overall grid flexibility, such as demand response, power plant retrofits, smart-grid measures, and advanced energy management systems. These options need to be weighed against the case for implementing energy storage solutions and require a holistic approach to understand high-level market dynamics that can improve energy access and infrastructure.

Grid Stabilization with Renewables

As the world moves towards a decentralized model, it is expected that existing solar PV systems will be retrofit with energy storage capacity, while new solar PV will be increasingly paired with a storage system during the installation process. While this may not always be cost-effective for the grid, co‑siting renewables and storage assets would ensure grid stability during peak demand periods. Adoption of innovative business models and multiple revenue streams, such as virtual power plant solutions, are expected to offset storage charges and will become increasingly important in decentralized energy markets.

The Role of EV Adoption and the Grid

EVs will also play an important role in the future of energy storage as the EV battery market is significantly larger than grid-scale batteries. Vehicle-to-grid charging, which allows charged power to be pushed back to the grid from car batteries to balance variations in energy production and consumption, is also gaining traction. As the number of EVs are expected to grow significantly by 2030, this will account for a large aggregated storage capacity, capable of providing grid stability at peak demand hours. The effects of innovation and reductions in the cost of mobility in the EV battery market may spill-over and boost the grid-scale industry significantly.

The Path Forward, Stay Tuned

New energy storage installation fell for the first time since nearly a decade in 2019 due to wavering policy support and uncertainties regarding battery safety in key markets such as Korea, China, US, and Germany. The COVID-19 crisis is also likely to compound these effects as battery production has a particularly complex supply chain, which will be severely impacted as production is halted. However, the medium to long term future of utility-scale and behind-the-meter storage systems look bright, and are increasingly being used across the globe to provide necessary stability to the national power grids as the influx of DERS continues to grow.

Stay tuned to CIC’s blog and newsletter as we continue to report on emerging trends and innovations on the path  towards an intelligent grid

The post Energy Storage: New Technologies and Forecasts appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.

By Nishant Jain

The Intelligent grid transformation will be the backbone of our new energy infrastructure. CIC defines an Intelligent Grid as having 3Ds – Digitalized, Decarbonized and Democratized – which is actualized by some key elements of ‘smart’, ‘autonomous’ and ‘predictive’.

Smart – The key element for a system to get “smart” is its ability to exchange signals between its components. The underlying technology has evolved from the Internet of Things (IoT) toa combination of low power sensors, connected device, computing, and software to enable digital monitoring and control of systems.

For example, a smart building orchestrates various systems within its ecosystem, such as HVAC, lighting, and security, within a single platform, allowing disparate systems to communicate and enable optimum performance. A smart mobility solution rests within this system and enables our vehicles to communicate key parameters like fuel status, engine parameters, etc. along with intelligent fleet management to know when devices can be used for storage, or balancing the grid.

From the utilities’ perspective, these data-points from buildings, e-vehicles, and public lights provide real-time, accurate status visibility and enable customized solutions, which greatly enhance customer engagement. For instance, an energy supplier can offer a customized electricity rate plan to its consumers, which would encourage a consumption shift towards non-peak hours, ultimately creating a win-win scenario. Such an ecosystem brings a shift from “autocracy” of few large utilities to “democratization” in which utilities and consumers both participate to make optimum decisions.

Prosumer engagement and impact matrix 

In many developed countries that have a deregulated retail electricity market, which  allows for a choice of suppliers and price negotiation, customers can choose from a portfolio of customized rate plans that best suit their needs. In turn, suppliers provide the best customer service to retain their market share.

Beyond the utility, customers can also interact with each other in their communities, leading to opportunities for peer-to-peer trading of surplus self-generated power sources like rooftop solar PV, diesel gen-sets, fuel cells, battery storage etc.

Autonomous – As the grid becomes smarter with millions of connected devices and sensors, decision making shift towards decentralization. Grid control mechanisms also mirror this shift of decentralization and point towards a system made of scalable cellular blocks. which can independently function off the grid when isolated.

An autonomous grid with a central control hub and with autonomous parts brings immense resiliency to a system by eliminating single points of failure. Apart from an AI-based distribution grid system, real-time speed is the key in its success, and underlying technologies which enable the transition to autonomous grids are edge computing and mission-critical communications. The set-up of real-time communication and resiliency sets up the perfect stage for the integration of renewables in the form of DERs and microgrids. Thus, autonomous grids enable “decarbonization” as the intermittent nature of renewable generation requires high levels of resiliency.

Predictive – A flexible and resilient grid has a price to pay as it carries a higher “standard deviation” of control parameters. Meaning, real-time reactive response to contingencies is not sufficient to meet the required Service Level Agreement. With the availability of significant amounts of grid system data and associated environmental data like weather and traffic information, emergency situations can be predicted and pre-emptive corrections can be made. The underlying technology is the cutting-edge of self-learning algorithms at the core of today’s AI engines, which will improve over time. The systems which can predict contingencies like weather anomalies, physical attacks, and cyberattacks while providing reactive solutions lead to the complete “digitalization” of the grid.

In the coming years, it will be imperative and interesting to see the complex confluence of cutting-edge technologies, innovative devices, and new standards and protocols disrupting the power value chain. These changes to the industry will be key in mitigating the effects of climate change via decarbonization, risk reduction by decentralization, and cost optimization by digitalization. The changing climate of the power industry presents new opportunities as well as risks for the players in the ecosystem, in which CIC is well positioned as an enabler in this transformation.

The post The Intelligent Grid: Smart, Autonomous, Predictive appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.

By Keshav Ahuja

Smart embedded devices and algorithmic decision making will transform services across many domains, including a smarter and intelligent grid.

Edge computing has gained momentum since the onset of 5G technology. And while 5G deployment for telecoms has been robust, investors have been wary of capitalizing edge computing technologies in the past, awaiting a lucrative operating model to be developed by an industry very much in its nascency. However, the emerging opportunities in the digital grid offer promise for power utilities in a global electrical infrastructure transition.

It is estimated that 75% of enterprise-generated data is expected to be processed outside a traditional centralized data center or cloud from around 10% in 2018. Consequently, several renowned investors in edge computing have quickly adopted mandates to commercialize solutions. Top-tier VC funds, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Softbank, GE Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Berkshire Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Crown Castle, have invested in edge computing tech companies. The industry is also growing at a CAGR of 26.5% between 2019-2024 and is expected to reach $9 billion by 2024.

Edge computing has become an integral part to leverage data and enable IoT devices with smart sensors to become truly intelligent. For example, smart cameras fixed to assets or drones with machine learning capabilities can run remote inspections and leverage algorithms to analyze conditions. Since power utilities and energy players across the value chain require real-time decision making with assets distributed across geographical regions, edge computing can enhance production capabilities, improve processes, extend asset life and capture untapped value from ever-increasing sensor technology and machine data with the right edge computing architecture. This will accelerate the digital grid transformation.

The endless possibilities, like most IoT solutions available today, present an equal amount of challenges depending on the stakeholder. Utilities will have to consider the cost of digitization, while consumers demand equitable returns for use of their new generation and storage assets.

With data-driven technologies being adopted by most organizations, power companies that have strategic footprints in IoT verticals which can be integrated quickly with existing workflows, technologies, and processes, will stand ahead of competition. Harnessing a market leader position in the complex but converging power and IoT industries will require a long-term vision and tremendous collaboration between industry, government, and the emerging prosumer.

Most utilities are not known for their digital and service-focused solutions. Nevertheless, the race is on by OEMs and utilities to invest in edge computing to expand digital capabilities and enable a range of devices behind the meter and the grid’s edge. Thoughtful collaboration, partnerships, and leadership will be necessary to guide regulators into pragmatic policies and procedures. The US and the rest of the world have set aggressive mandates to decarbonize.

However, the grid is not intelligent yet, and utilities are at the nexus of the rapidly changing landscape of electric infrastructure and edge computing.  Climate Impact Capital is here to be a change agent in this energy transformation.

The post Capturing the Untapped Value of Edge Computing Investments for the Intelligent Grid appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.