US Government Announces $220 Million In Grid Modernization Initiatives
The US Department of Energy has announced it will provide up to $220 million for more than 80 projects intended to modernize the country’s electricity grid.
On a tour of a utility control center in Miami, Florida, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced the release of his department’s new Grid Modernization Multi-Year Program Plan, as well as the promise of funding for up to $220 million to support more than 80 projects to modernize the country’s electricity grid.
“Modernizing the US electrical grid is essential to reducing carbon emissions, creating safeguards against attacks on our infrastructure, and keeping the lights on,” said Secretary Moniz.
“Our Quadrennial Energy Review and Quadrennial Technology Review identified needs and opportunities to invest in the grid. This public-private partnership between our National Laboratories, industry, academia, and state and local government agencies will help us further strengthen our ongoing efforts to improve our electrical infrastructure so that it is prepared to respond to the nation’s energy needs for decades to come.”
The Department of Energy (DOE) will award up to $220 million in funding, over three years, and subject to Congressional appropriations, to the DOE’s National Labs and their partners, “to support critical research and development in advanced storage systems, clean energy integration, standards and test procedures, and a number of other key grid modernization areas.”
Modernizing the US electricity grid is becoming more and more necessary. The existing US grid is beginning to show its age, deteriorating in certain places and struggling to cope with increasing usage. On top of that, the growth of the renewable energy industry in the US, and the subsequent increase in renewable energy capacity additions, are putting an even greater toll on the grid, which must now deal with static electricity generating methods such as coal or gas, as well as the new fluctuating methods that are part and parcel with the growth of renewable energy.
Subsequently, the new Grid Modernization Initiative is the DOE’s attempt to “solve the challenges of integrating conventional and renewable sources with energy storage and smart building.”
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