Good Visual on the Coming Changes in the Grid

Good Visual on the Coming Changes in the Grid

Michael Pesin, deputy assistant secretary for the Advanced Grid Research and Development division in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, recently gave a talk on the transformation of the grid to make it more DER-friendly and he included a really useful graphic.  His talk relates also to a symposium held by DOE on the future of the grid, where you can dig deeper on the topic.   

Basically, he sees the grid going from a rigid, capital-intensive architecture to a more flexible and “capital diffuse” one where more than just utilities invest in the grid.   He sees five elements in the “Next-Generation” grid, shown in the blue box in his graphic.  I would add a sixth—a very robust cybersecurity system.  In the transformation he describes, there would be much more communication infrastructure to support monitoring and control and the integration of lots of equipment owned by parties other than the utilities.  This new structure is ripe with opportunity for cyber-attack, compared to the conventional system that is more analog and closely held.  Another change implied by his list (flexible generation and load, multi-directional power flow) is the strong possibility that the broad AC network will be broken up into more clusters of load behind an AC-DC-AC link.  That would add a lot of ability to control DER and eliminate some of the burdens it places on the larger distribution grid.  Those links at a small scale are expensive.  Anyone want to innovate a much lower cost back-to-back small converter?  See any other innovation opportunities associated with his view?  Lots of software innovation needed.  Lots of communication systems needed.  Take heed.

Source: DOE

Source: DOE

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStart’s Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | TobinBlueTech Valley, Revrnt, 

Moss AdamsPowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig, Momentum,

College of Engineering & Computer Science at Sacramento State

Four Companies Pitch to Investor Panel

Four Companies Pitch to Investor Panel

We turned the spotlight on four very interesting new startups that are seeking investment in our third pitch night on November 18.  They presented their plans to a panel of five pros who listened and then provided advice on how to improve.  One piece of advice was to come up with a quick phrase that can quickly encapsulate what the company is about.  Maybe something like this:

  • EVLife—Tools like “Turbotax” for simplifying the paperwork of buying an EV and claiming all the credits.  (There are a dozen credits and incentives and many people fail to claim all of them)
  • Ascent Analytics—Tools for slashing two-thirds of the cost of solar installations, the “soft costs”.  (They are taking a captive tool developed by one solar installer and converting it to a SaaS sell to medium-size installers.)
  • Lemna—Saving billions of dollars by growing common duckweed to filter and cleanse waste water from cattle and hog raising.  (The duckweed that grows on the waste water is pelletized for animal feed, closing the loop.)
  • Hexas Biomass—Substituting superior fiber from an exotic plant for wood for making building material and chemicals.  (The plant looks like corn and bamboo had a baby.)

Two of the most common suggestions were:

  • Start with evidence of “traction”, tangible evidence that you have customer interest; don’t start with a description of the technology; investors want to know there is a real business at hand
  • Spend more time developing financial projections so investors see what their returns would look like and how much money it will take to make a company reach breakeven

One of the panelists suggested using a template for presentations that was created by well-known tech VC firm Sequoia Capital and provided this link

The panel members also recommended a tighter focus on fewer products and on a very clear customer segment.  They were concerned the presenters were trying to do too many things and it made the pitch harder to follow.  

The presenters all felt they got a lot of good feedback that will help them as they fundraise.  That’s exactly why we hold these sessions.  Many thanks to our panel members for taking the time to offer their help.

No summary can do justice to the many insights that came out of this session.  If you missed it, we have made it available on our website and on YouTube directly.  

Our next Spotlight Investor Pitch Night will be held in the first quarter of 2022, so watch for our announcement of it.  Tell your colleagues to join us next time and if you have a company you would like to present, please let us know.

A special thanks to those who donated when they registered.  That’s what keeps us going.  If you would like to contribute, see our donations page.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStart’s Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | TobinBlueTech Valley, Revrnt, 

Moss AdamsPowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig, Momentum,

College of Engineering & Computer Science at Sacramento State

WindHarvest International Wins Sustainability Award

WindHarvest International Wins Sustainability Award

On November 18, the Sacramento Business Journal and Stoel Rives handed WindHarvest the Award for Sustainability Innovation of the Year.  They were one of 8 Regional Innovation winners announced in various categories at the ceremony, one of the few in-person such meetings held since the pandemic started.  It was nice to see so many colleagues again.

We have written about WindHarvest before as they have been advancing their vertical axis wind technology.  Their idea is to double the output from existing wind farms with the big towers and big blades using the same real estate and same infrastructure.  These vertical axis turbines sit at ground level so are easier to service, can fit between the towers and make use of the wind not captured by the big stuff.  Many others have attempted the same thing, only to get marginal results—and in some cases to see their equipment fail.  

Kevin Wolf and his team took the approach of extensive computer modeling to come up with a design that would avoid the extreme stresses that doomed the earlier efforts.  He also innovated a creative crowdfunding approach to underwrite the building of a first demo plant in Texas, providing his initial $1.5 million.  In accepting the award, 

Kevin told a brief story of all the bumps in the road they encountered getting this prototype finished.  Equipment was delivered late and damaged, Covid interfered with construction progress, and it just seemed it was one darn thing after another.  He deserved a Persistence Award as well. He has been getting a lot of customer interest and has started a new $2.5 million funding campaign to begin building the equipment to install on several future projects.

SMUD was the runner-up in this category with its StorageShares program which gives customers the benefit of storage but with an off-site, consolidated installation sited where it is easiest for the grid to handle.  The program would have broad applications throughout the utility industry.  

While it was the winner in the Food and Agriculture category, the Better Meat Company is worth a mention because it also contributes significantly to sustainability.  They produce a fibrous protein product that can be shaped into servings that look pretty close to meat.  The product is based on growing fungal mycelia in a fermentation tank that can be cleaned, processed and shaped into meat-like servings, with a texture and taste that is pretty close to actual meat.  By cutting out the raising of cattle or chicken, and eliminating the use of so much water and animal feed, Better Meat cuts out a lot of environmental impacts.  They have gotten a good reception from some big name food processors and have a 14,000 square foot production facility in West Sacramento.

If you have an innovation that would fit one of the categories for an Innovation Award, please fill out a nomination form and submit your details when the window opens next year.  These awards attract a lot of positive attention beyond the region and attract investors.  The Sacramento Business Journal issue of November 19-25 has a special section on these awards, so pick up a copy.  

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStart’s Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | TobinBlueTech Valley, Revrnt, 

Moss AdamsPowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig, Momentum,

College of Engineering & Computer Science at Sacramento State

November 2021 Newsletter

Whats New with Hydrogen

Wondering where things stand on the transition to the greater use of hydrogen as part of the clean energy revolution?  We had a great discussion last night (October 28) with three individuals right at the center of activity.  We hosted Jennifer Hamilton of the California Fuel Cell Partnership, Roxanna Bekemohammadi, Executive Director of the Western States Hydrogen Alliance, and Leslie Goodbody of the Air Resources Board.  

We heard lots of interesting tidbits:

  •  The CEC has begun approving larger clusters of new fueling stations, rather than just a few at a time in an effort to pick up the pace.  About 50 stations are in operation and 60 in the pipeline, with a goal of having about 155 in operation by 2025.  Details are found in the latest AB 8 report from CARB.  Some of the details found there include new production facilities, the number of FCEVs deployed to date (7,993) and the impact of COVID on the roll out program.  The goal remains having 200 stations by 2025.
  • The difference between the wholesale price of hydrogen (around $3 per kilogram which equivalent energy to a gallon of gasoline) and the retail pump price (about $12 per kg) will likely come down with more competition.  The pump price for larger stations for heavy duty fleets (buses, trucks) is more like $8 right now.  Economies of scale help.
  • The goal for hydrogen price for the commercial and industrial sector is parity with diesel.  (Not sure whether that is price per gallon equivalent or cost per mile.  Fuel cells are much more efficient than diesel engines so that narrows the difference substantially if accounted for.)
  • The hope for hydrogen is reaching a wholesale price of $1 per kg.
  • FCEV manufacturers provide “gift cards” for hydrogen to those that lease their vehicles.  The amount on the card is intended to provide for three years’ worth of fuel.  That was news to those who are not that close to issue.
  • There are many competing ways to use hydrogen as a clean fuel (blending with renewable natural gas or conventional natural gas, using pure hydrogen or blends in conventional gas turbines, producing synthetic renewable conventional fuels) and probably several options will be needed to meet aggressive goals to reduce fossil carbon emissions.
  • The competition between hydrogen plus fuel cells for vehicles or storage and batteries is serious.  The panelists offered that hydrogen has advantages in long-duration storage and in lighter-weight drive trains for long distance trucks.  As we have heard from similar discussions with battery advocates, they do not concede these differences and point out that the kWhs that can be stored per kg is markedly improving (lighter weight per mile of range) and that energy density also improves the long-duration performance.  In addition, the battery advocates note that the “round-trip” efficiency of storing electricity as hydrogen and converting it back to electricity in a fuel cell is much lower than the in/out for batteries.  
  • Figuring out where the lowest carbon footprint for hydrogen vs. batteries depends on lots of details about where the hydrogen and the electricity come from.  Hydrogen from renewable gas has a particular advantage by avoiding emissions of methane from decaying biomass.  The amount of carbon per kWh of electricioty is dramatically changing due to the transition to zero carbon sources.  

The panelists were each asked where the opportunities are for innovators in the areas they watch.  Roxanna made a big point about the need for financial innovations to make the purchase and use of hydrogen easier.  Jennifer and Leslie saw more competition as an important element, along with ways to reduce the cost of pure “green” hydrogen, avoiding the collateral carbon emissions from the supply chain.  In addition, the entire logistics chain is in need of improvement, with opportunities in reducing the energy lost in compression and leakage, and in using pipelines vs. trucks.

This was one of the more fascinating discussions we have had, thanks to the experts we had on our panel and the active participation of the audience.  The session was recorded and is available on our YouTube channel.

Follow us on Social Media to keep upto date!

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStart’s Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | TobinBlueTech Valley, Revrnt, 

Moss AdamsPowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig, Momentum,

College of Engineering & Computer Science at Sacramento State