If there was a way to continue to operate our electric grid with the same reliability and affordability as today, but with entirely non- or low-carbon-emitting sources, utilities likely would have already made the switch. There is a gulf that exists between the ideals motivating energy transition goals and the practical realities of today’s technologies and processes to have truly “clean” electrons delivering power throughout a system.
That’s where research and development comes in. Looking back over the past few decades and recent years, while regulatory and other factors have certainly played a role, significant strides in energy R&D have already paved the way for the energy transition to be possible. For example, advances in photovoltaic technology that have increased capacity factors while decreasing costs have made solar a much more viable form of electric generation. The amount of solar capacity has increased tenfold in the U.S. in the past decade, and wind capacity has doubled.
At the same time, advances in energy storage have buttressed these technologies. A pair of recently completed projects funded through the Demonstration of Energy and Efficiency Developments, or DEED, program highlight these advances. Burbank Water and Power in California recently cut the ribbon on a 75-kilowatt long-duration iron-flow battery capable of storing six to 12 hours of energy. The storage is paired with a 265-kW solar array, combining to provide enough energy to power 300 homes.
Farther north, the Northern California Power Agency continues to move ahead with a hydrogen conversion project for its Lodi Energy Center. NCPA has received two DEED grants for the project, investigating the economic feasibility and the engineering design of using a blend of hydrogen to fuel the 300-megawatt facility, potentially moving to 100% hydrogen in the future. The facility will better enable NCPA to store the excess solar generation produced during off-peak hours and distribute it via the production of green hydrogen.
The transition is not just about shifting the way electricity is generated, but how all forms of energy are used. As such, several other DEED-backed R&D projects are tapping into the potential for electric vehicles. Northern Wasco County Public Utility District in Oregon worked with the nonprofit Forth on a program that enabled customers in rural areas to test-drive EVs, thus increasing the likelihood of these customers purchasing the vehicles. Meanwhile, Energy New England tested a program that explored factors that would bolster the used EV market.
One part of innovation is creating tools and resources to enable utilities to maximize the potential of new and emerging technologies. For example, the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities is working with several of its members to develop a comprehensive EV toolkit that will help other utilities engage fleet customers and to better plan infrastructure development, particularly related to transformer upgrades.
Energy R&D is focused on solving the practical near-term challenges that need to be addressed and can set the stage for how various industries can or will be involved in moving to economywide emissions reductions through increased electrification. One such example is a guidebook on grid-interactive efficient buildings created by WPPI Energy, a Wisconsin-based joint action agency. The guidebook is intended to help small and midsize utilities to be better positioned to take advantage of grid-interactive efficient buildings, which are energy-efficient buildings that use smart technologies and onsite distributed energy resources to provide demand flexibility.
In South Dakota, Missouri River Energy Services worked with member community Brookings Municipal Utilities to install, operate, and study a container-based indoor food-production unit. The examination of controlled-environment agriculture is the sort of research that lays the groundwork for reduced emissions in the agricultural sector of the economy while also providing other environmental benefits such as reduced soil usage.
The work being done today to better understand and develop these technologies — even if they do not become a regular part of our energy system — is critical in determining how the grid of the future will operate. Further research into emerging technologies, as well as the development of toolkits and other resources, is necessary to help utilities navigate the challenges of today and the changes ahead.
To move public power and the larger energy community forward, there needs to be continued investment into studies of emerging battery and storage technologies, EV charging infrastructure, new generation resources, rate design, and other areas. Through R&D, the creative forces at work in the energy sector can speed up the timeline of deployment of technologies that can truly transform the American economy.
