Story at a glance
- Funding for the Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration Program will come from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- The projects must use solar, wind or energy storage and show how clean energy can support a power grid by adjusting to meet energy demands and disruptions.
- The funds are part of larger effort from the Biden administration in broaden the nation’s use of clean energy.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is allocating $26 million to 10 projects to demonstrate that the U.S. power grid can reliably run on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Funding for the Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration Program will come from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will go toward projects that show how the nation’s electricity grid can reliably operate with a mix of solar, wind, energy storage and other renewable energy resources.
Projects will also test tools and plant functions that allow a grid to stay online during disturbances and to restart it if it goes down, according to a release.
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Each demonstration project will provide data to “underscore how President Biden’s goal of 100 % clean electricity by 2030 can be achieved while supporting grid reliability.”
“Americans do not have to choose between a clean grid and a reliable one as we move forward towards our goals of a net-zero economy by 2050,” Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement.
“Thanks to funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, DOE is proving that transitioning to solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources can keep the lights on without service interruptions, while creating good paying jobs,” she added.
The projects will require testing at a plant of at least 10 megawatts in size and aims to show how a clean energy grid can prevent blackouts by rapidly identifying and responding to faults.
The DOE is encouraging academic institutions, private companies, nonprofits, tribal nations and state and local governments to apply for funding.
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Published on Aug. 03, 2022
Read More: Energy Department awarding $26M to fund renewable energy grid projects – The Hill