The McDonnell Group

ATLANTA - April 16, 2009 - Late this afternoon the White House announced its programs and plans for Smart Grid funding in a press release issued from the Office of Vice President Joe Biden. There were important new details included in the release and the accompanying documents released by the Department of Energy.

Synchrophasors and energy storage took prominence not only in the press release, but also in the detailed forty seven page Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) open for public comment. The FOA accounts for $615 Million of the total estimated smart grid investment of $3.9 Billion with the balance outlined under the DOE’s grant program.

Synchrophasors support better monitoring and management of the high voltage bulk power system. It’s been clear for some time that the DOE and the utility industry at large view them as vital to bulk transmission smart grid program success.

A key for the future is the application of the data from synchrophasors into the energy management system applications and largely yet to be developed intelligent heuristic analysis systems that will turn the data into actionable information.  Hopefully some enterprising power engineering entrepreneurs are envisioning exciting new applications for this data and plan to apply for grants for software systems that will drive the real value from the expected proliferation of these devices.

There are a number of innovative device technology companies working in the broader area of transmission line monitoring including Valley Group (now part of Nexans) whose technology requires line contact, and an early stage company called Promethean Devices whose newer non-line contact patented monitoring technology has shown tremendous promise in tests with a major east coast investor owned utility.

Energy storage is front and center in the White House press release and the FOA right after synchrophasors. This includes the expected categories of battery storage, compressed air, distributed storage and load shifting technology. (Full disclosure: Ice Energy is a McDonnell Group retained client and a market leader in distributed thermal energy storage technology).

The DOE expects to distribute the $615 Million dollars in the program under the FOA for roughly 8-12 regional demonstration projects, 4 or 5 synchrophasor projects, and 12-19 energy storage projects.

The FOA includes policy guidance on plans for evaluating applications for funding, logistics for application entry, and an official 20 day notice period for comments that closes May 6, 2009. Interested parties must allow 10 days to register and then process applications and grants at www.fedconnect.net before the deadlines.  There are going to be some all nighters for dedicated smart grid advocates in the weeks ahead!