Much effort is being devoted to decarbonizing the energy sector quickly, efficiently, and economically—while still being able to provide affordable and reliable energy. In OurEnergyPolicy’s September 30, 2020, webinar, Paula Gold-Williams (President and CEO of CPS Energy) and Gil Quiniones (President and CEO of the New York Power Authority [NYPA]), gave their perspectives, as heads of two of the largest utilities in the country, on driving decarbonization while not undermining reliability.
Both CPS Energy and NYPA are striving to meet the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, an objective that is in line with various existing and potential climate plans at the state, federal, and global level. The board of San Antonio-based CPS Energy, which provides both natural gas and electricity, has endorsed a roadmap that will bring the utility in line with the Paris climate goals. NYPA, which Quiniones said is “the backbone of the New York State power system” and the nation’s largest state electricity utility, is working to adjust its operations in accordance with New York’s recently passed Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Utilities across the country are following suit as net zero requirements become more common.
However, achieving these goals may prove more difficult than setting them. Quiniones, Gold-Williams, and moderator Melanie Kenderdine of the Energy Futures Initiative, explained that existing forms of carbon-free energy cannot meet existing demand. Meeting decarbonization goals will require investing in research and development for technological advances and relying on natural gas (at least temporarily) to assure reliability of the existing power system. Technologies such as carbon capture utilization and sequestration, hydrogen, geothermal power, and advanced nuclear power may all have a role to play but are not yet ready to be reliably deployed at scale. Solar, wind, and battery storage, cannot support the grid on their own due to intermittent weather and capacity issues.
We encourage you to view the event recording below and to weigh in with your thoughts and feedback.
1) What do you see as the main reliability challenges in decarbonizing the grid?
The main reliability challenges in decarbonizing the grid involve the intermittency (on all time scales) of wind and solar power. This can in part be solved by expanding and strengthening… Read more »
The challenge is to accommodate increasing share from intermittent renewables while maintaining reliability. And to do so without unduly increasing the cost of electricity to ratepayers. The solution space we… Read more »
The main challenge in depending on LOCAL in-state renewables in places like the East Coast, which in turn requires lots of additional control and storage. But there are locations in… Read more »
The biggest “bang for the buck” comes from increased transmission line capacity across 1) the 3 US grids (east, west, ERCOT) which will require HVDC converter stations (w additional benefits… Read more »
I forgot to include that sufficient transmission is the biggest reliability challenge in decarbonization. Moving large amounts of intermittent renewables around the continent is a huge challenge and has to… Read more »
2) How can we best address these challenges while still making meaningful progress towards a cleaner energy system?
We need a comprehensive national plan that strongly supports technological development; depends on multiple clean sources of energy; and is responsive to regional needs and resources. Such a plan will… Read more »
I agree that market rule changes will be needed. Better provision are needed for energy storage and for demand regulation.
The “old” grid assumes there is variable demand and that the supply must be available to meet it. But the “new” grid will have variable demand and supply with each… Read more »
3) Do you believe that federal clean energy policies are required to fully decarbonize?
Absolutely.
In theory, perhaps not. But in theory, COVID-19 response could have been handled at the state level, without leadership and assistance from the federal government. That particular theory has been… Read more »
To achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 2°C, the U.S. needs very effective, coordinated, and long-term federal and state clean energy policies. The federal government… Read more »
Henry is right, of course. Climate change is a global problem, and it requires a global response to address it. That means treaties and agreements between nations. In that light,… Read more »
The only way around federal policy change is to build sufficient private market collaboration (consortiums, etc.) to develop 100s of new merchant transmission lines, as I more fully described in… Read more »
OEP has done a truly great thing here by starting a dialogue which offers hope of connecting all the way from the realities of advanced technology and real market economics,… Read more »
The U.S. energy system, depending upon the time of year, has somewhere between 45 and 90 days of energy storage to meet variable demand and assure reliability—primarily in the form… Read more »