The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $32 million to six pilot projects that will support new load growth through grid-edge innovations and the ability of energy providers to right-size grid investments for future load growth. These Connected Communities projects in eight states will also provide new strategies and... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released a Strategy for Achieving a Beneficial Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI) Future, developed as part of DOE's EVGrid Assist initiative. The strategy details how DOE will support stakeholders in achieving a future where electric vehicles (EVs) are safely, securely, and reliably connected with the... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $32 million to six selected pilot projects that will support new load growth through grid-edge innovations and the ability of energy providers to right-size grid investments for future load growth. These Connected Communities projects in eight states will also provide new strategies... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) program released a draft roadmap to improve processes for interconnecting clean energy resources to the distribution and sub-transmission grids and seeks feedback from the public. The draft roadmap identifies strategies that the interconnection community can take within the next five... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) program and Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, through a Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) with ENERGYWERX, announced the Innovative Queue Management Solutions (iQMS) for Clean Energy Interconnection and Energization program. This program will award $11.2 million to no more than... Read more →

Cleveland-Cliffs will build a new electrical distribution transformer production plant in Weirton, West Virginia. This downstream direct investment by Cleveland-Cliffs in Weirton will address the critical shortage of distribution transformers across the United States. Cleveland-Cliffs will repurpose its Half Moon Warehouse in Weirton to commence production of three-phase distribution transformers... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $65 million for Connected Communities 2.0, a funding opportunity announcement (DE-FOA-3136) to drive innovation to manage growing building, transportation, and industrial electric loads on the grid. Connected Communities 2.0 has three main goals: Demonstrate how smart and coordinated management of EVs... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released The Future of Vehicle Grid Integration: Harnessing the Flexibility of EV Charging, as part of DOE’s EVGrid Assist initiative. Developed with broad stakeholder input, the document outlines a shared vision for vehicle-grid integration (VGI), where electric vehicles (EVs) are safely and securely connected... Read more →

Rhythmos’ rapid deployment with Knoxville Utilities Board is a collaboration with Tennessee Valley Authority and EPRI via the Incubatenergy® Labs program. Rhythmos will tap into data from 250,000 Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters to provide KUB with energy network management to optimize EV charging capabilities. Rhythmos is one of just... Read more →

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a $12-million initiative to support the development and demonstration of innovative, replicable solutions that advance electric vehicle adoption and the integration of electric vehicles with the electric grid. (PON 5354) The initiative also seeks to support novel demonstrations of medium- and heavy-duty electric and... Read more →

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL), a global leader of new energy innovative technologies, and HGP Storage, LLC (HGP), a company specializing in the development of advanced battery energy storage systems (BESS), announced an agreement on the supply of more than 450 MWh of BESS. Both parties have also agreed... Read more →

Since its inception, the US electric grid has mostly operated smoothly as one synchronous machine with a one-directional flow of electricity to meet the nation’s predictable power needs. However, as older centralized thermal resources are being replaced with more variable renewables and long-distance delivery systems are showing their age, that... Read more →

The UK Government has published an Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Action Plan. The plan sets out steps being taken to seize on the significant potential of smart charging and make it the preferred method of long duration charging by 2025. Smart charging harnesses the potential of energy use data and... Read more →

RMI, a leading nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the global energy transformation, announced the formation of the Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3). Initial funding of the VP3 effort was made possible by General Motors and Google Nest. VP3 includes founding members Ford, General Motors, Google Nest, OhmConnect, Olivine, SPAN, SunPower, Sunrun,... Read more →

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a contract to supply and install a large-scale mtu EnergyPack QG battery storage system on a turnkey basis to the Dutch energy company Semper Power in Vlissingen. The order also includes general contractor services, as well as the construction of the building and other infrastructure. Semper... Read more →

A team led by Raymond Borges Hink at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed a method using blockchain to protect communications between electronic devices in the electric grid, preventing cyberattacks and cascading blackouts. The work is summarized in a new technical report from ORNL. The... Read more →

JERA, the largest power generation company in Japan, responsible for about 30% of Japan’s electricity, and Toyota Motor have built and deployed the first large-capacity “Sweep Energy Storage System”. The system was built using batteries reclaimed from electrified vehicles (HEV, PHEV, BEV, FCEV) and is connected to the consumer electrical... Read more →

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has received approval to establish the nation’s first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) export compensation mechanism for commercial electric vehicle (EV) charging customers in its California service area. The V2G export rate promotes EV adoption by providing upfront incentives to help commercial customers offset fleet costs and... Read more →

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Tesla Inc. have launched a new pilot program that creates a virtual power plant (VPP) to help support electric grid reliability and save customers money. PG&E is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square... Read more →

Elli, a brand of the Volkswagen Group, and MITNETZ STROM have launched a nationwide pilot project for smart grid integration of electric vehicles. In the joint pilot project supported by E-Bridge, optimized charging strategies will be tested taking into account both regional electricity generation from renewable energies and the available... Read more →

In continued efforts to support the growing electric vehicle (EV) segment, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced a next-generation powerline communication (PLC) device, the QCA7006AQ, designed to address the needs for electric vehicle (EV) charging station communications—also known as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)—that use global Combined Charging System (CCS). The PLC... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and partners announced the Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will bring together resources from DOE, DOE national labs, state and local governments, utilities, and private entities to evaluate technical and economic feasibility as we integrate bidirectional charging into energy infrastructure.... Read more →

A realistic pilot test conducted by Porsche, the grid operator TransnetBW and consulting firm Intelligent Energy System Services (IE2S), has demonstrated that electrical balancing power can be stored in the high-voltage batteries of an intelligent swarm of electric cars. Five series-production Taycan were connected to the power grid via the... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) recently awarded $2.4 million in funding for three projects to advance novel thermal and hydrogen energy storage technologies toward increased duration, reliability and affordability. The technologies will initially support transitioning of existing fossil assets to low carbon... Read more →

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Ford Motor Company announced a collaboration exploring how Ford’s new F-150 Lightning electric vehicle (EV)—the first commercially available light-duty truck with bidirectional charging technology (earlier post)—can interact with the electric grid and provide electric reliability benefits to PG&E customers. One in five EVs... Read more →

A team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has completed a literature review on the potential value of EV managed charging. Their findings, published in Energy & Environmental Science, provide a comprehensive look at how EVs and the grid could work together as the electric and transportation sectors become... Read more →

The US Department of Energy announced Stage 1 winners of the Conductivity-enhanced materials for Affordable, Breakthrough Leapfrog Electric and thermal applications (CABLE) Conductor Manufacturing Prize. The 10 teams selected in Stage 1 of this $4.5-million, three-stage competition will work to develop affordable, manufacturable materials that conduct electricity more efficiently and... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and DOE’s Office of Electricity (OE), issued a request for information (RFI) (DE-FOA-0002528) seeking feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to integrating electric vehicles (EVs) with the grid.... Read more →

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has launched a new Joint Industry Program (JIP) to investigate energy storage systems for the grid. JIP efforts will include developing new test cycles for batteries employed in grid applications, estimating the life span of batteries and their potential for failure, and reducing likelihood of battery... Read more →

The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) latest annual report on the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program highlights how public-interest research is helping California meet its goal of decarbonizing the electrical system by 2045. EPIC is California’s premier clean energy research and development program. Each year, more than $130 million in... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has begun work on the Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL), a $75-million facility located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington that will boost clean energy adaptation and accelerate the development and deployment of long-duration, low-cost grid energy storage. The planned facility will... Read more →

AutoGrid, a leading provider of AI-powered flexibility management software for the energy industry, announced technological compatibility with the FLO and AddEnergie group, a leading operator of the FLO electric vehicle (EV) charging network and provider of smart charging software and equipment, to provide AutoGrid Flex for utility management of smart... Read more →

Fluence, the global energy storage solutions joint venture between Siemens and AES, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) pursuant to which QIA will commit to invest $125 million in Fluence through a private placement transaction. Consummation of the transaction is subject... Read more →

FCA Italy S.p.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., and ENGIE EPS, and Italian technology player in energy storage, hydrogen and e-mobility, have been awarded with 25 MW of capacity in the context of the tender process held by the Italian grid operator Terna. The innovative grid service,... Read more →

Con Edison has begun using the batteries on five Lion Electric electric school buses to provide power to its customers, marking the first time in New York State that electricity has flowed from buses into a utility’s grid. Con Edison and its partners have begun sending power from the bus... Read more →

Hydro-Québec has launched EVLO Energy Storage Inc. (EVLO), a subsidiary that designs, sells, and operates safe, efficient and sustainable energy storage systems. These storage systems are intended mainly for power producers, transmission providers and distributors, as well as the commercial and industrial markets for medium- and large-scale storage. Their modular... Read more →

The National Science Foundation has awarded $39 million to a team of engineers and computer scientists at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) to build a first-of-its-kind testbed—DERConnect—to improve the understanding of how to integrate distributed energy sources such as solar panels, wind turbines, smart buildings and electric vehicle... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $65 million through its Connected Communities funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to expand DOE’s network of grid-interactive efficient building communities nationwide. (DE-FOA-0002206) As our Nation’s energy system continues to undergo dramatic transformations, there is a growing need for solutions that integrate and... Read more →

US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette announced the launch of the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The ARIES research platform will allow NREL researchers and the scientific community to address the fundamental challenges of integrated... Read more →

A new study of the impact of high EV adoption on the Western US power grid by a team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has found that 2028 grid resource adequacy—from generation through transmission—is likely to be sufficient for high EV penetration. Under a high-penetration scenario with national electric... Read more →

Audi and the Hager Group, a supplier of solutions and services for electrical installations in residential, commercial and industrial buildings Increasing network stability, lowering electricity costs, and contributing to climate protection, are researching bi-directional charging to integrate electric vehicles into the domestic power grid to reduce electricity costs and increase... Read more →

Mercom Capital Group, LLC, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, released its report on funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for the global Battery Storage, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency sectors for the second quarter (Q2) and first half (1H) of 2020. Total corporate funding (including venture... Read more →

Statkraft, Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy, has agreed to a deal to help further decarbonize the UK’s power sector and deliver a new approach to managing the stability of the grid. Statkraft UK will install GE’s Rotating Stabilizer technology—i.e., giant flywheels—at its stability project at Keith in the northeast... Read more →

PowerCell Sweden AB has signed a memorandum of understanding with ABB Power Grids regarding a collaboration around fuel cell based zero emissions stationary power solutions. The aim of the cooperation is to leverage the companies’ existing technologies to jointly develop a complete solution for the market. A final agreement is... Read more →

Southern California Edison recently signed seven contracts totaling 770 megawatts of battery-based energy storage resources to help enhance the region’s electric system reliability needs. The recently conducted solicitation and the resulting contracts make up one of the country’s largest energy storage procurements. The projects will enhance electric grid reliability and... Read more →

Rolls-Royce now holds a 73.1% majority stake in Berlin-based electricity storage specialist Qinous GmbH. The Group acquired the shareholdings of all other current financial investors, including that of investment holdings company IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (Berlin). The founding shareholders will continue to hold shares in the company and will retain their... Read more →

Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy research and communications firm, released its report on funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for the Battery Storage, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency sectors for 2019. According to the report, global VC funding (venture capital, private equity, and corporate venture capital)... Read more →

Electrify America is investing $1.3 million in the Energy StorageShares program developed by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). The investment will help Electrify America reduce its overall energy-related costs and lower the company’s impact on Sacramento’s electrical grid. This first-of-a-kind program will help address peak energy demands, minimize impacts... Read more →

Highview Power Storage, Inc., a provider of long duration energy storage solutions, and Encore Renewable Energy, a developer of renewable energy generation and storage projects, jointly announced plans to develop the United States’ first long-duration, liquid-air energy storage system. This facility will be a minimum of 50MW, provide in excess... Read more →

In the UK, Western Power Distribution and Ricardo are leading a new project—DC share—that will develop and trial a novel solution to use latent capacity in distribution networks to power charging hubs. DC Share will share capacity across existing AC electricity distribution network substations, enabling increased numbers of high-power electric... Read more →