NYSERDA Announces Nearly $11 Million in Project Awards to Enhance Electric Grid Performance

Projects Will Help Expand Integration of Renewables Into New York's Electric Grid and Improve Resiliency While Reducing Energy Usage and Costs

September 28, 2021

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) today announced nearly $11 million in awards to support projects that promote the development of a high performing smart electric grid that integrates a diverse supply of renewable energy resources, enhances overall grid performance and resiliency, and enables customers to reduce their energy costs, consumption, and environmental impacts. Grid modernization supports the State’s goal to generate 70 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable resources by 2030, as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act).

Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO, NYSERDA said, "New York's clean energy future requires a modernized electric grid that is capable of delivering the State’s nation-leading vision for a zero-emission electricity system by 2040. These innovative projects are helping to develop, pilot and test the smart grid technologies and solutions that will accelerate the transformation toward an advanced, digitally enhanced, and dynamically managed high-performing electric grid for New York State.”

Applicants submitted concept papers that underwent a rigorous evaluation process. Based on those evaluations, a select group of projects were invited to submit full proposals for further evaluation. Proposal submissions were required to include one of five categories: technology feasibility studies, research studies, engineering studies, product development, and demonstration projects.

The 12 selected projects represent solutions that facilitate connecting clean energy resources to the grid; product development; innovative data analytics development; advanced planning, operations, and forecasting tools for the modern grid. The awarded projects include:

• ConnectDER - Developing a monitoring and control device to support a secure data connection from the grid operator to solar, storage and electric vehicle chargers, with the goal of utilizing solar and storage for grid reliability and backup power during outages.
• DNV GL – Developing and validating controls for behind-the-meter energy storage systems, to advance cost-effective solutions that mitigate the risk of back-feeding power to the grid.
• Electric Distribution Design – Developing a comprehensive software system utilizing real-time situational awareness of load, solar generation and severe weather forecasts to increase operational efficiency in the Central Hudson Gas & Electric and Orange and Rockland County service territories. 
• GridEdge Networks – Developing and demonstrating a distributed network architecture featuring scalable and flexible communications that can better integrate distributed energy resources (DERs) into the grid.
• Line Vision – Demonstrating a new non-contact technology to sense power lines, allowing the line’s capacity rating to be dynamically adjusted in response to current conditions, with the goal of optimizing transmission assets and relieving congestion.
• Manifold Robotics – Combining data from onboard electric and magnetic field sensors to enable aerial drones to approach and service power lines safely, reducing maintenance costs and risk to technicians.
• Quidnet - Demonstrating a system in the NYSEG/RGE (Avangrid) service territory that stores energy by pumping water into underground rock formations and returns it to the grid by using the pressurized water to generate power on demand, potentially providing an economical means of long-duration energy storage.
• Sen Engineering – Developing a new power flow controller transformer technology with potential to allow more renewable energy to be distributed in the state through existing transmission lines.
• Smart Wires – Investigating the location and sizing of electronic power flow controllers at potential sites in the state, demonstrating technology that can shift power flow from overloaded to underutilized lines to reduce congestion and allow more net power to flow in the existing system.
• Switched Source – Designing, manufacturing and field testing an electronic device that connects two power lines and safely allows power to flow in either direction between those lines, providing flexibility that can increase the amount of solar power communities can install, as well as increased redundancy to prevent power outages during extreme weather events.
• The Research Foundation for SUNY University at Albany – Enhancing predictability of weather-caused power outages using Mesonet, New York State’s weather network, with the goal of enabling utilities and emergency management services to plan and deploy resources to minimize power outage impacts.
• The Standard Hydrogen Corporation – Studying development of an energy storage system using hydrogen as an energy carrier, with the goal of economical long-duration energy storage for the power grid.

NYSERDA administers the initiative through its High Performing Grid Program, which seeks proposals from electric grid technology companies, New York's utilities, universities, and researchers, to advance smart grid technologies. Submissions for this rolling funding opportunity are expected to address how to improve resiliency, reliability, efficiency, and overall performance of the electric power delivery system, while building the capacity to integrate, transfer, and expand the use of clean energy resources onto New York's electric grid.

The High-Performing Grid program is administered under NYSERDA’s Power Grid Innovation/Smart Grid program, which since 2016 has awarded approximately $55 million under nearly 100 contracts to grid technology companies and research organizations for projects including low-cost high-accuracy grid sensors, modeling and simulation tools, and advanced engineering solutions for more effective integration of renewable energy resources. More information about this funding is available on  NYSERDA's website.

New York State's Nation-Leading Climate Plan

New York State’s nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $21 billion in 91 large-scale renewable projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.2 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting more than 150,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector in 2019, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. With the Climate Act as its guide, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.

About NYSERDA

NYSERDA, a public benefit corporation, offers objective information and analysis, innovative programs, technical expertise, and funding to help New Yorkers increase energy efficiency, save money, use renewable energy, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. NYSERDA professionals work to protect the environment and create clean-energy jobs. NYSERDA has been developing partnerships to advance innovative energy solutions in New York State since 1975. To learn more about NYSERDA’s programs and funding opportunities, visit nyserda.ny.gov or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram.