CIC Insights

Articles tagged as: intelligent grid

Virtual Power Plants Catalyze Grid Stability in Texas

Bringing Energy Equality to Renters in Texas with Virtual Power Plants

Historically, choosing solar energy as a way to cut down on electric bills and add value to homes has only been a viable option for people with good credit and the ability to purchase a home. With a new program, however, the opportunity to power one’s place of residence with solar is being extended to renters and people with lower credit scores through virtual power plants, community solar and innovative storage.

Project TexFlex
The apartments at 2410 Waugh Street in Houston’s…

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EVs will be the Resilience and Disaster Recovery Solution of Choice for Intelligent Grids

Climate Impact Capital sees EV infrastructure as the solution of choice for intelligent grids and is pleased to announce an investment into OpConnect, alongside Reinventure Capital and Black Founders Matter.

OpConnect is a Minority Owned Small Business taking on big names like ChargePoint, ABB, and Shell (which purchased Greenlots). The team has developed a lean model that has enabled EV service providers to quickly integrate their EV charging networks with advanced payment processing and customer care tools.

Mobility and energy are undergoing a massive…

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60Hertz Energy Closes $1.3M Round to Improve Remote Microgrid Operations

60Hertz Energy is pleased to announce the closing of its Pre-Series A round of $1.3M to improve remote microgrid services, bringing total capital raised to $2.7M to date. 60Hertz Energy is a SaaS Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) platform improving electricity microgrids and backup generator operations. The round was led by Factor and Climate Impact Capital, with major investments from SeaChange Fund, Clean Energy Venture Group angels, and the Alaska Investor Network.

“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…

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Can H2 solve the Texas freeze?

Can H2 solve the Texas freeze?

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…

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Energy Storage: New Technologies and Forecasts

Energy Storage: New Technologies and Forecasts

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…

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The Intelligent Grid: Smart, Autonomous, Predictive

The Intelligent Grid: Smart, Autonomous, Predictive

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…

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