EPRI Receives Funding from DOE to support solar energy R&D.

Press Release Summary:



EPRI will receive over $5 million in funding from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for projects that are part of SunShot Initiative, which represents collaborative, national effort to drive innovation to make solar energy cost-competitive with traditional energy sources by this decade's end. Awards in which EPRI is included are Solar Utility Networks: Replicable Innovations in Solar Energy (SUNRISE) award and Grid Engineering for Accelerated Renewable Energy Deployment (GEARED) award.



Original Press Release:



EPRI Receives Funding from DOE as Part of the SunShot Initiative to Support Innovative Solar Energy Research and Development



The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will receive over $5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for projects that are part of the SunShot Initiative. The Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources by the end of the decade. On October 22, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced about $60 million will be invested to support innovative solar energy research and development. These awards are expected to help lower the cost of solar electricity, advance seamless grid integration and support a growing U.S. solar workforce.



EPRI is included in the Solar Utility Networks: Replicable Innovations in Solar Energy (SUNRISE) award by the Energy Department where an investment of about $8 million will help utilities forecast and integrate high levels of renewable energy generation into the grid, while ensuring reliable and affordable power. EPRI will receive $873,347 as it is collaborating with the Tennessee Valley Authority, Southern Company, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and California Independent System Operator and other partners to develop future scenarios for potential high penetration solar in the southeastern United States, distribution grid feeder clustering and characterization, and models for solar generation hosting capacity and power production simulation. This will result in end-to-end strategies for operations and planning that utilizes prior efforts, including DOE-funded projects, and provides possible pathways for successfully integrating large amounts of solar generation.



More information here:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/sunrise.html



EPRI is also included in the Grid Engineering for Accelerated Renewable Energy Deployment (GEARED) award where the Department of Energy is awarding about $15 million to develop power engineering curriculum and launch four regional training consortiums. Led by U.S. universities, utilities, and industry, these consortiums will train the next generation of energy engineers, system operators and utility professionals. EPRI will receive $4,200,001 and is collaborating with four U.S. universities and seventeen utilities/system operators to establish a Distributed Technology Training Consortium (DTTC) in the Eastern United States. This consortium aims to effectively combine utility and industry research with educational expertise in power engineering. The project team is empowering new and continuing education students to become not only competent and well informed engineers, but also influence major technological, social, and policy decisions that address critical global energy challenges.



The complete list of participants for the GEARED award is:



Universities - Georgia Institute of Technology, Clarkson University, University of North Carolina Charlotte, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez



Electric Utilities & RTO/ISO - Ameren, American Electric Power, Central Hudson Gas & Electric, Consolidated Edison, Inc, Detroit Edison Electric, Duke Energy, FirstEnergy Corporation, Louisville Gas & Electric & Kentucky Utilities, National Grid, New York Independent System Operator, New York Power Authority, EnergyUnited, PJM Interconnection, Potomac Electric Power Company, SCANA Corporation, Southern Company, Tennessee Valley Authority, United Illuminating



More information here:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/geared.html



Over the last three years, the cost of a solar energy system has dropped by more than 70 percent – helping to give more and more American families and businesses access to affordable, clean energy.



The DOE release can be found here:

Energy Department Announces $60 Million to Drive Affordable, Efficient Solar Power

http://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-60-million-drive-affordable-efficient-solar-power



The Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources by the end of the decade.  For more information, visit www.energy.gov/sunshot



Don Kintner

EPRI

dkintner@epri.com

704-595-2506

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