The post Virtual Power Plants Catalyze Grid Stability in Texas appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.
]]>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 Montrose neighborhood will become the first installation of “Project TexFlex,” a program created by flexible energy provider PearlX Infrastructure and global leader in smart energy technology, SolarEdge Technologies. Together, these two companies have collaborated to create a novel residential clean energy solution for renters in Texas. NATiVE Solar is also a part of this innovative project, and has been granted an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract. These companies are working together to install community solar and battery storage in apartment complexes to create “Virtual Power Plants” (VPPs), also known as resilience hubs, which are meant to help stabilize the Texas grid. By installing these systems on the roofs of apartment buildings, Project TexFlex is empowering renters who would otherwise be shut out of the residential solar market.
How it Works
Project TexFlex aims to increase energy resilience in Texas by reducing strain on the grid. “A lack of localized renewable energy sources makes ERCOT vulnerable to failure and power outages such as the ones that occurred in the winter storm in February 2021. The battery storage in VPPs facilitate the delivery of energy back into the grid during a blackout which helps to both support and stabilize the grid. By increasing the number of VPPs within a community, power becomes more reliable for everyone. VPPs have the ability to significantly reduce grid strain during energy shortages, and as more VPPs are installed, the likelihood of mass power outages will continue to decrease” says Alex Rozenfeld, Founder and Managing Director of Climate Impact Capital.
Bringing Clean Energy Solutions to Renters
The ability to bridge the gap between renters and clean energy solutions is extremely important due to the growing trend in families with children who are renting their homes instead of buying them. According to an article posted by CultureMap Houston, this demographic is on the rise in the thirty largest US metros, with Houston being no exception. Many of these tenants are also low to medium-income families, and should benefit from the more affordable, flexible, and resilient energy that solar provides. PearlX’s mission is to use Project TexFlex to help reduce energy poverty and expand clean energy access.
Working Towards Energy Equality
In striving for energy equality, PearlX will not require tenants to present an industry-defined adequate credit score, but rather simply show proof that they have paid their most recent electricity bills on time. This allows tenants who live within TexFlex properties to access the benefits of solar even with inadequate credit scores. As stated by Michael Huerta, CEO of PearlX, “Mainstream solar and especially storage has traditionally been an amenity for the wealthy. If you don’t have good credit, you don’t have access…Payment for electricity we believe is the highest form of credit. When you look at the data, electric bills are paid before rent, cell phone bills, even car payments.” With PearlX underwriting the TexFlex project, tenants of all credit scores, provided that they have paid their last electric bill, will be able to access the benefits that solar energy provides to both them and their communities.
Texas and Beyond
While the Montrose apartment community is a smaller scale project with only fourteen individual apartments, PearlX has already signed an agreement with the complex’s developers to continue to scale up the project and offer it at other multi-family real estate properties across Texas. After developing further in Texas, similar projects will continue in California and several other US states later this year.
With the launch of this new clean energy solution, PearlX, SolarEdge, and NATiVE Solar are creating a widely replicable, decentralized model that will facilitate Texas’ energy transition, while offering safeguards against grid failures. At the same time, energy consumers across the state will benefit from more cost-effective and reliable power. This win-win solution is the first of its kind, and shows us how private entities can step in to provide energy solutions when public utilities are insufficient. By continuing to support projects such as TexFlex, we can make Texas more resilient and bring affordable clean energy solutions to those who would otherwise be locked out of participating in the solar market.
Learn more about NATiVE Solar and CIC Energy Holdings
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]]>The post EVs will be the Resilience and Disaster Recovery Solution of Choice for Intelligent Grids appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.
]]>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 transformation as transportation moves toward an electric future. The investment will enable expansion of OpConnect’s team and enhancement of its “real-time,” hardware agnostic EV management and billing platform to public and private fleet operators.
The company plans to expand its private-labeling offerings focusing on multi-family properties and communities. Headed by CEO Dexter Turner, OpConnect is leading innovation in the electric transportation, with seven EV charging and access control patents. “The Biden administration envisions an aggressive acceleration of the country’s move to vehicle electrification,” said Dexter Turner, which creates enormous opportunities for small business growth, EV owners and reduction of local and greenhouse gas pollution. Jessica Nigro, OpConnect BoD and General Manager at Daimler North America, agreed, “Industry cannot underestimate the influence of immediate federal and state policy in fostering the EV ecosystem.”
“Smart EV charging networks are a critical element of ensuring grid resiliency as we progress to a micro-grid centric utility model where consumers and building owners play a strong market role,” said Alex Rozenfeld, the Founder of Climate Impact Capital, “and as we saw during the near-collapse of the Texas ERCOT grid early in 2021, microgrids with EVs as a core will increasingly provide resilience and backup power in the coming decades as we see more climate change driven mega weather events.” With options like the Ford Lightning, Rivian R1S, and the VW ID.4, consumers may rapidly migrate to EVs.
About Climate Impact Capital
CIC invests in energy technology companies and supports global energy corporations through CIC’s Venture-as-a-Service program. CIC identifies resiliency opportunities to prepare our partners for a world challenged by climate change risk 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.
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]]>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.
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]]>The post Can H2 solve the Texas freeze? appeared first on Climate Impact Capital.
]]>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.
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]]>The post Energy Storage: New Technologies and Forecasts 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
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