US Department of Energy has announced the funding of approximately $47m for eight projects to further smart grid demonstration projects in seven states under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has also announced $10.5m in Recovery Act funding for local governments to develop preparedness plans for their electrical systems, which helps in the development and implementation of a modernized and secure electrical grid, in delivering renewable energy to American consumers and ensuring an efficient electricity system across the country.
Chu, said: “Modernizing our electrical grid to make it stronger, smarter, more efficient and more secure is a crucial step in expanding renewable energy and creating jobs. These investments will help lay the foundation for American leadership in the clean energy economy.”
The $47m funding would support existing projects that are advancing demonstration-scale smart grid technologies. This investment would add to the $17m funds awarded for these projects in 2008 .
The $10.5m fund to enhance the nation’s energy security is available for local governments to apply for energy assurance grants ranging between $60,000 and $300,000. Previously, nearly $40m funding was announced for state-level energy assurance planning.
DOE funded smart grid demonstration projects includes: $4,832,972 funding for developing and demonstrating technology for a fault current limiter by American Superconductor; $7,584,120 funding for American Superconductor to developing the components required to commercially deploy superconductor cables; $4,841,647 funding for The city of Fort Collins, in cooperation with a number of partners in the state, for research, development and demonstration of a coordinated and integrated system of mixed clean energy technologies and distributed energy resources; and $5,631,110 for Consolidated Edison which develops and demonstrates true interoperability between an energy delivery company and retail electric consumers.
The projects also includes $5,405,583 funding for Illinois Institute of Technology to develop and demonstrate a system to achieve “perfect power” at the main campus of ITT; $5,548,585 funding for The University of Hawaii to manage and distribute system resources for transmission congestion relief, and grid support functions; $5,724,709 funding allocated for The University of Nevada-Las Vegas for exploring technologies to apply distributed generation and detailed energy accounting and control for a large residential development in the southwestern US; and $8,081,973 for Zenergy Power which will design, test, and demonstrate technology for fault current limiter for use on the transmission system.