How serious is the US about delivering a new Smart Grid system? Well, it’s fair to say the US Department of Energy is willing to put its money where its mouth is, with more than $47million in funding dedicated for eight projects to further smart grid demonstrations in seven states.
The funding arrives courtesy of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as Energy Secretary Steven Chu also announces $10.5million will be dedicated for local governments to develop emergency preparedness plans for their electrical systems.
The $47million will support existing projects that are advancing demonstration-scale smart grid technologies and adds to the $17million that was awarded by the Department to these projects in 2008.
So what are the projects that will benefit? Here is a guide to the lead organisations for each of those supported by the funding:
American Superconductor Corporation: Has picked up $4,832,972 to develop and demonstrate advanced technology for a fault current limiter that restricts power surges through equipment in fault conditions.
American Superconductor Corporation: Picks up a further $7,584,120 to develop the key components required to commercially deploy second generation, high temperature superconductor cables that increase reliability and efficiency.
City of Fort Collins: $4,841,647 has been awarded in co-operation with partners in the state of Colorado to research, develop and demonstrate a co-ordinated and integrated system of mixed clean energy technologies.
Zenergy Power Inc: The company, based in San Francisco, California, designs, tests and demonstrates an advanced technology for a fault current limiter for use on the transmission system. It picks up $8,081,973.
Consolidated Edison Company of New York: $5,631,110 has been awarded to develop and demonstrate true interoperability between an energy delivery company and retail electric consumers.
Illinois Institute of Technology: With the aim of developing and demonstrating a system to achieve a ‘perfect power’ at the main campus, the Chicago based institute has been awarded $5,405,583.
University of Hawaii: $5,548,585 has been dedicated to exploring the management of distribution system resources for improved service quality as well as reliability, grid support functions and transmission congestion relief.
University of Nevada-Las Vegas: With $5,724,709, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas will explore technologies to apply distributed generation and detailed energy accounting and control for a large residential development in the south-western US. Its goal is to reduce residential electrical demand.
