By GREGORY ZELLER //
Albany has awarded $16.6 million to five “long-duration energy-storage projects” – with another $17 million teed up for projects that can harness and store renewable energy.
Speaking Thursday at AEC 2022, the 12th Advanced Energy Conference sponsored by Stony Brook University’s Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the five competitive awards, topped by $12.5 million for Oswego County’s Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, which plans to demonstrate long-haul hydrogen-energy storage and “nuclear-hydrogen-fueled peak power generation,” according to the governor’s office.
Other awards went to California-based Borrego Solar Systems, which snagged $2.7 million to construct two standalone energy-storage systems and to demonstrate a zinc-hybrid cathode energy-storage system in New York City, and Colorado-based RCAM Technologies, which will put $1.2 million toward a 3D-printed concrete marine pump/hydroelectric storage system, designed to integrate with offshore-wind sources.
Energetic handshake: Energy industry veteran Robert Catell (right) welcomes Gov. Kathy Hochul to the stage Thursday morning.
Also funded – through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Renewable Optimization and Energy Storage Innovation Program – were Ohio-based Power to Hydrogen and Rochester-based RocCera LLC, which each received $100,000 for projects focused on reversible fuel cells and solid-oxide electrolyzer cells, respectively.
With her eyes on 3,000 megawatts of stored clean-gen energy by 2030, the governor also announced another $17 million in competitive NYSERDA funding earmarked for shovel-ready projects that can demonstrate scalable innovation in long-duration energy storage, with bonus points for hydrogen-friendly programs.
“Innovative, forward-thinking approaches to transforming the way energy is stored are critical to fighting climate change and transitioning to a clean-energy economy,” Hochul said Thursday. “New York is making bold investments in clean energy.
David Hamilton: Conference confidence.
“By advancing new and more sustainable energy-storage technologies, we are ushering in a cleaner, greener future for New York.”
Introduced to the podium by AERTC Chairman Robert Catell – the regional energy icon who also chairs the National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium – the governor chose the plenary session of Day Two of AEC 2022, held at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, to announce the awards and new solicitations.
That’s another feather in the cap of the conference, three days of workshops, exhibits and roundtables featuring an international roster of high-level sponsors – universities, corporate partners and more – and a deep bench of expert speakers dedicated to mapping out the best energy future.
Stony Brook University Economic Development Director of Programs David Hamilton said the governor’s venue selection reinforced the importance of the AEC – held annually since 2007, superstorms and pandemics notwithstanding – and the quality of its presenters and programming.
“We are so thrilled that the governor chose our conference to make this historic funding announcement,” Hamilton, also the AERTC’s chief operations officer, told Innovate Long Island. “Her focus on clean-energy storage is key to the state’s climate goals, and central to our AEC 2022 discussions.”
