Energy Storage Grants
In order to advance renewable energy projects like large-scale wind and solar farms, researchers are looking for ways to store electricity generated by these new sources of power. The problem is that these sources are intermittent: They work when the wind is blowing or the sun is shinning. Several rounds of government grants are meant to address this problem by making energy-storage projects more economically viable.
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DOE Grants
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 earmarked grant money through the Department of Energy to fund advanced renewable energy projects, including energy storage. In November 2009, another $620 million for smart-grid and energy-storage projects was announced by Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Of that, $185 million went to energy-storage projects. Some grants are part of the Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy for research into renewable energy. At the time, DOE announced it was also the last money DOE is spending out of the current stimulus funds. According to the DOE, "This funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be leveraged with $1 billion in funds from the private sector to support more than $1.6 billion in total Smart Grid projects nationally." In total, $4 billion in smart grid stimulus funds have been allocated so far.
Compressed-air Storage
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Deep caverns could store energy.
Cavern image by PC Girl from Fotolia.com
The technology of compressed-air storage consists of using electricity to compress air and then store it in underground caverns. That air is released to run a turbine to produce electricity when wind or solar power plants are not producing any power. Compressed-air garnered $60 million in grants this round. Many of the 16 recent storage grants were focused on storing wind power in California, but the grant-winners also included several new start-up companies developing energy storage technology.
Advanced Batteries
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New electric cars need to store energy.
Red cars image by Catabu from Fotolia.com
The $2 billion grant appropriation for advanced battery systems went to manufacturers in the United States who are developing batteries for the next generation of electric vehicles, including lithium ion batteries, hybrid electrical systems, component manufacturers, and software designers. In addition to these grants, investors, ranging from General Electric to Warren Buffett, see the energy storage industry as a potentially huge market for batteries.
Smart Grid
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Storing power means less strain on the electric grid.
power lines image by Byron Moore from Fotolia.com
In addition to large-scale energy storage projects, other key components in a "smart grid" system include smart meters, power transmission system monitoring, and a range of other technologies. While the government is funding these current projects, individual utilities, investors and private companies such as General Electric are also moving ahead with private funds.
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- Photo Credit Wind farm at night image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com Cavern image by PC Girl from Fotolia.com Red cars image by Catabu from Fotolia.com power lines image by Byron Moore from Fotolia.com
