1. Quidnet’s first commercial-scale energy storage project
A landmark 15-year agreement was announced between Texas utility CPS Energy and Quidnet Energy to build a long-duration, grid-scale energy storage project.
What’s clear: American innovators are well-positioned to lead the world in the development of next-generation energy storage technologies. Quidnet’s geomechanical pumped storage (GPS) technology, while similar to traditional pumped hydro storage, offers a few key advantages:
- Small size
- Not reliant on certain elevation conditions
- Does not disrupt lake or river ecosystems
Plug in: Using Quidnet’s innovative GPS technology, the project will work toward CPS’ “Flexible Path” Resource Plan to reduce their emissions by 80% by 2040.
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2. Omnibus spending agreement
Congress released an omnibus spending bill which passed the U.S. House on Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday. It includes exciting clean energy innovation provisions, including:
- $450 million for ARPA-E: Funded at $450 million ($23 million increase)
- $45 million for fusion energy public-private partnerships
- Language to improve carbon dioxide infrastructure such as onshore pipelines
- $120 million for “Project Pele,” Dept. of Defense’s cutting-edge Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) program to demonstrate a non-light water nuclear reactor design by 2024
- $250 million for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP)
- $120 million for the energy storage including the Grid Storage Launchpad
Plug in: The legislation also includes funds for the offices of Fossil Energy, Nuclear Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Science. The Hill has more.
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3. TVA & Oak Ridge new partnership to advance clean energy
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are joining forces to advance clean energy technologies from design to deployment, including:
- Direct air capture…clean hydrogen…advanced nuclear…geothermal…and long-duration energy storage.
What’s clear: TVA provides electricity for 153 local power companies serving 10 million people in Tennessee and surrounding states. They have big carbon emissions reduction goals and will be tapping ORNL’s technical expertise to reach their goals.
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4. S. Korean firm investing in American clean energy
A $100 million investment into 8 Rivers Capital, a U.S. clean energy solutions provider, by South Korean investment firm SK Group will fund emissions reduction efforts in Asia by deploying clean energy technologies such as carbon capture, hydrogen production, and direct air capture among others.
What’s clear: This announcement comes as Europe is trying to reduce its reliance on Russian natural gas, while Asian countries are simultaneously trying to meet increased demand for power.
Note: The energy startup NET Power uses 8 Rivers’ technology and successfully built a functioning pilot plant in Texas in 2018.
- Plug in: Unfamiliar with NET Power? Our CEO Rich Powell explains their “game-changing” technology in 3 minutes.
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5. Modernizing a broken permitting process
A domestic source of critical minerals is essential for American energy independence. Lithium Americas is in the final phase to begin its Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada.
What’s clear: Thacker Pass has been a decade in the making. The current permitting process is broken and outdated — Thacker Pass is a prime example of why we need to modernize.
Speaking of which, lawmakers are talking about this too. DOE Secretary Granholm assured an audience at CERAWeek that permitting reforms are “definitely on the agenda” for the Biden administration. And U.S. Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) made the case at a House E&C Committee hearing.
- “Regulatory delays are slowing down natural gas and geothermal projects along with other types of renewable energy. We’ve got to do a whole-of-government approach to collapse the bureaucracy associated with getting new kinds of things,” she added.
- Joyce said, “We need to talk about enabling domestic mining of essential minerals used in batteries. It should not take a decade for the permits for the Thacker Pass Lithium project in Nevada.”
Plug in: Read our Senior Program Director Alex Fitzsimmons’ take on permitting modernization in the wake of Thacker Pass in the Las Vegas Review Journal.
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6. ICYMI
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