The post Climate Impact Capital Portfolio Company Wins Phase 1 of Department of Energy Prize totally $10M to accelerate community microgrids appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.
]]>Climate Impact Capital spun out Climate Impact Capital Energy Holdings, LLC (CIC Energy) in 2021 to address significant gaps in U.S. energy workforce and critical infrastructure development. CIC Energy serves two segments by addressing the I. demand for energy (e.g. cost-effective electricity, equitable energy, demand response programs, backup power) and lack of supply of human resources with technical and trade skills.
CIC Energy will deploy Phase 1 winnings and fuel Team Impact with funding and technical support provided by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Community Power Accelerator (CPA) Prize. With almost 200 teams, judges at SETO and NREL were challenged to pick the Top 25 amongst a critical mass of competitors. The $10 million prize competition is a three-phase process to increase the number of equitable community solar projects by providing funding and resources for developers and co-developers throughout the project lifecycle. By the end of the prize, competitors will be ready to engage with the Community Power Accelerator online platform, which provides a place for competitors to showcase their credit-ready projects to verified project developers, investors, and philanthropic organizations.
CIC Energy is excited to cultivate community solar designed to support equitable energy jobs and accelerate critical infrastructure workforce development. Through CPA’s online portal and CIC Energy’s Learning and Earning in Energy Platform (LEEP), prosumers are enabled with democratized, decentralized and digital disruptors to monetize savings, enhance human behavior and offer credit-ready solar to stabilize power grids and add resilience to communities—with a priority placed on projects that benefit underserved communities—and connect them with mission-aligned investors and philanthropic organizations to get funding in Port Arthur, Central and East TX in 2023.
Community Solar Benefits
In Phase 2, CIC Energy will further develop community grids, equitable and distributed energy models, and deploy a series of up to 1MW DC projects within communities, offering a range of meaningful impacts in Port Arthur, Northwest Houston, Central and East Texas. Community solar offers direct benefits to the community by reducing energy costs, expanding renewable energy consumption, and providing solar industry workforce development opportunities. Project Renew has prioritized disadvantaged communities since launching its first Solar Apprenticeship Program at Del Valle Opportunity Center in Fall 2021. Team Impact will catalyze change in households, creating home energy systems for community solar subscribers, bolstering community grid resilience, facilitating community ownership of project assets, and supporting equitable workforce development by providing high-wage opportunities that reduce income disparities across demographic groups.
Team Impact
CIC Energy, along with the Houston Advanced Resource Center (HARC), Community In-Power and Development Association, Inc. (CIDA), Mills Agriculture & Renewable Energy, LLC (MARE), and the Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC), make up Team Impact. Our Impact aims to modernize community grids and increase solar workforce capacity within historically underserved communities by developing a community solar portfolio in Port Arthur, Texas.
Community Solar Builds Alliances, Creates Greener and More Resilient Grids in Port Arthur
Team Impact’s community solar projects in Port Arthur will target schools, churches, and small businesses within disadvantaged residential communities, delivering power grid resilience during energy emergencies and showcasing the cost benefits of distributed energy systems. The end goal is the expansion of community solar benefits to household subscribers. Local community members will have ownership of these projects, democratizing energy production in the city.
Increasing Energy Security and Mission Critical Communications
Community solar electricity rates will be lower than rates available via existing power distribution grids, which reduces the financial burden of electricity usage and increases energy security by improving grid resilience. Residents previously forced to ration energy usage due to economic hardship (e.g. by not using their air conditioners or setting thermostats to dangerously high temperatures) will be able to reduce energy rationing with more affordable electricity rates provided by community solar projects. Such benefits will improve the quality of life for residents of disadvantaged communities in Port Arthur.
Gearing up for Phase 2
Winning Phase 1 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize is an exciting opportunity for CIC Energy to bring alternative energy to Texas residents facing high energy burdens and frequent power outages. In decreasing energy costs and enhancing grid resilience in the community, CIC Energy will deliver energy equity and create more lucrative employment opportunities for this underserved community. As we begin Phase 2 of the prize, we look forward to realizing our plan and are committed to providing clean energy access to the disadvantaged neighborhoods of Port Arthur, Texas.
Accelerating Equitable Energy Through Federal Funding and Team Impact
The American-Made Solar Prize is directed and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. CIC Energy applauds the efforts of our government to prioritize energy equality.
CIC Energy: An Impact Driven Change Agent to fuel Renewable Microgrid Deployment, Disruptive Grid Service Models and Activate a Critical Infrastructure Workforce
Climate Impact Capital Energy Holdings, LLC (CIC Energy) develops and manages alternative energy and power generation for commercial, municipal, and government solar power and energy storage facilities.
As an integrated service provider, we identify the most effective set of asset solutions for our clients considering cost and resiliency goals. In addition to deploying solar and storage, our services and solutions include electric vehicle charging, building energy management services, and grid services.
CIC Energy also manages the development and implementation of an integrated training, certification, and continued education platform to provide Registered Apprentices for our government/corporate partners and enable our planned integrated solar, storage, EV, and microgrid projects. Stay tuned for details regarding our Learning and Earning in Energy Platform (LEEP).
The post Climate Impact Capital Portfolio Company Wins Phase 1 of Department of Energy Prize totally $10M to accelerate community microgrids appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.
]]>The post 60Hertz Energy Closes $1.3M Round to Improve Remote Microgrid Operations appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.
]]>“Maintenance is a critical element of ensuring grid resiliency, as we saw during the near-collapse of the Texas ERCOT grid early in 2021,” said Alex Rozenfeld, the Founder of Climate Impact Capital. “Microgrids will become an increasingly important part of the mainstream grid in the coming decades as we see more climate change driven mega weather events and 60Hertz will be part of the suite of solutions needed in that future.”
The 60Hertz software and services already are actively deployed supporting remote and critical microgrids in seven countries. 60Hertz enables customers to improve the asset performance and overall lifespan of their existing power generation facilities and speeds their transition of microgrids to resilient and renewable power generation sources. 60Hertz facilitates maintenance on over $140M of microgrid assets with over 4,600 maintenance records filed per month through the platform. This financing will accelerate the company’s growth in North American and Sub-Saharan African markets.
60Hertz Energy is a Women-Owned Small Business. At a time when only 2.8% of venture capital goes to female-founded start-ups, 60Hertz is a success story. New 60Hertz Director, Susan Preston of SeaChange Fund, notes that “I am delighted to start working with 60Hertz on the strategic pathway to further growth and success. I am particularly pleased to be working with an excellent CEO, Piper Foster Wilder.”
Piper Foster Wilder launched the company in 2017. With co-founders Whitney Gantt and Tonya James, the team has created and deployed maintenance software designed for low- and intermittent bandwidth in off-grid locations in Alaskan villages and Sub-Saharan African countries and for users new to technology, maintenance, and energy assets.
The need for efficient, resilient, and sustainable microgrid infrastructure is critical to boosting economic growth. Microgrids are rapidly expanding from rural markets that 60Hertz Energy currently serves to become key elements of grid management worldwide.
“The clean energy revolution is happening everywhere, not just in the cities and suburbs,” said John Harper, a Partner at Clean Energy Venture Group. “Rural and remote power generation assets have a critical role in transitioning to a cleaner and more resilient future. 60Hertz’s CMMS is an essential tool in this effort. We’re eager to help 60Hertz Energy grow dramatically over the next several years.”
60Hertz Energy is the only offline-first Social Impact CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) for remote assets and teams. 60Hertz is innovative because of[its focus on emerging markets, serving users without strong reading skills, and for use in rural/remote settings with limited bandwidth.
Factor[e] is a global venture development firm dedicated to supporting the growth of early-stage, technology-enabled companies solving challenges in energy, agriculture, mobility, and waste in emerging markets.
Climate Impact Capital, LLC invests in energy technology companies and supports global energy corporations through CIC’s Venture-as-a-Service program. Focusing on climate change risks, CIC identifies resiliency opportunities and prepares our partners, customers, and portfolio companies for a world challenged by climate variability and resource scarcity. With a diverse team and a global partner network across oil and gas, power, and energy technology manufacturing, CIC is at the forefront of the energy transition.
SeaChange Fund was founded in 2015 and has $47.5 million assets under management and a pooled average IRR of 55.6% across six funds. The Fund has made 46 investments in 33 early-stage Pacific Northwest startups in nine industry sectors. These investments help support nearly 610 jobs in the PNW region.
About Clean Energy Venture Group
Clean Energy Venture Group is an angel investment group providing seed capital and management expertise to early-stage climate tech and clean energy companies. The group is comprised of seasoned operating executives with strong capabilities in the energy and environmental sectors. With each investment, we bring not only capital but also the value of our experience and network to help companies achieve their financial and impact goals.
The post 60Hertz Energy Closes $1.3M Round to Improve Remote Microgrid Operations appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.
]]>