Uuganbayar (Ugi) Otgonbaatar, Ph.D.

ICYMI: Check out this recently published “Energy Policy” journal article investigating how the strategic early retirement of younger #coal-fired power plants can boost enterprise value, particularly when paired with investments in #renewableenergy: https://bit.ly/4d3aHu5 The authors, Lawrence Ang and Matthew Carpio of Climate Smart Ventures, Dr. Christoph NEDOPIL WANG of the Griffith Asia Institute, and Mengdi YUE of Green Finance & Development Center (GFDC), specifically conducted a plant-level analysis of Chinese-sponsored #coal stations in #Vietnam and #Pakistan. 🏭 Key findings include: ✅ Early retirement of Chinese sponsored #CFPPs in Vietnam and Pakistan can increase enterprise value. 📈 ✅ Younger CFPPs can achieve greater lifetime reductions while preserving economic value.💰 ✅ Country factors, such as Pakistan's circular debt, influence feasibility of early retirement strategies. 🗺 ✅ Immediate refinancing action promises better results while allowing transition planning. 📑 ✅ Concessional finance and innovative tools can speed up CFPP retirement in Asian economies. 🛠 👉 Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4d3aHu5 #energytransition #decarbonization #cleantech #ESG #sustainability #sustainablefinance #transitionfinance #renewables #renewableenergy

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As the push for renewable energy accelerates, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is poised to inject $7 billion into the development of rooftop solar, community solar farms, and energy storage through “Solar for All” grants. These investments are crucial for expanding solar energy access, decarbonizing the grid, and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. #renewables #power #energy #wind #offshore #onshore #solar #hydropower #floating #nuclear #geothermal #efficiency #transition #susteinability #circular #economy #esg #clean #decarbonization #electrification #climate #hydrogen #mobility #greensteel #ammonia #transportation #storage #fuelcell #smartgrid #der #powersystem #generation #transmission #distribution #electricity #machines #drives #sensors #iot #education #engineering #innovation #entrepreneurship #creativity #technology #digitalization #cybersecurtity #metering

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Upgrade you Interconnection Queue IQ! There is no #CleanEnergy transition without transmission - we must responsibly expand our grid to more rapidly onboard clean energy. In 2023 over 3K new project requests to connect to the grid representing over 900 MWs of RE & storage. In total over 11K projects representing ~2.6 TWs of RE & storage capacity actively seeking connection! The Western queue (excluding Cal) represents 700+ MWs of potential - good news is wait time in West to get connection is below national average.

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File under: energy regulatory observations, #RTO #complaints / #waivers when there are #tariff issues that don't make sense. I read a fair number of daily orders from / filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and this granting of a complaint against PJM stood out as a quick one to highlight for a few reasons. First, the level of tax-codification (like Shakespeare, I'll invent the words I need) that RTO tariffs have undergone. Read the intro paragraph of the order capturing the crux of the issue. My goodness. I cover issues across ISOs/RTOs from PJM, to NYISO, CAISO, and of course ISO-NE as well non-888/2000 regions like BPA and public utility districts and everyone has their own rules. For companies doing business in the US (which, for example, is common with generation, transmission developers, and large loads), it's like needing to be fluent in several languages. Observation: no wonder #FERC has some aspirations to more standardized language to at least create a bit of standardization in the tariff tower of Babel. Second, the complaint as a consensus tool. It's human nature to want to be right. Evolutionary, it's a mark of power. And power means safety. Humans are wired that way for survival, and it takes some self-awareness and reflection to engage the rational cortex over the non-verbal and much older limbic system and to hit the pause button to a challenge. The term "complaint" doesn't always help and neither does the "party v. party" case caption. The whole structure connotes conflict. Here, Dominion filed a waiver with a complaint in the alternative because PJM interpreted its tariff to not allow for a resource submission given a change in entity type. But instead of simply defending the tariff, PJM acknowledged the issue and supported a fix if the also supported waiver wasn't granted. FERC granted the complaint to fix the issue generally rather than a one off. While the stakeholder process - and all the interests that are encompassed therein - can make agreement to a change like this more difficult, the complaint and waiver processes are paths that can and should be used especially where time matters. One of the most critical things for those administering the rules to understand is: a delay is not harmless, a "comeback next time" is not without victims. Many projects have to have all elements align to move forward. Other issues may be more durable but can add needless costs to consumers, and those add up. This "how can we work with parties" approach is great to see and hopefully we'll see more of it. From capacity markets to interconnections, there is a lot of room for win-wins. Also, great to see Commissioner Rosner's name on these. #energy

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This decision by the FERC sends a powerful message, reaffirming the critical importance of nuclear energy in our transition to reliable, low-carbon power. While short-term volatility is inevitable, the long-term perspective is clear: nuclear energy is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone for stable, clean energy, with unmatched reliability that intermittent sources like wind and solar simply cannot offer on their own. With growing recognition from investors and policymakers alike, nuclear energy’s value is finally being understood and appreciated for its ability to deliver consistent power without the need for extensive backup. This shift marks a pivotal moment for the industry, one that prioritizes resilient, sustainable solutions that support grid stability and meet modern demands for low-carbon energy. The FERC’s decision underscores that nuclear is not just an asset—it’s a necessity. With the mounting challenges to grid reliability, the time is now for governments, companies, and investors to take decisive steps to expand our nuclear capacity. The future of clean, dependable energy is nuclear, and it’s a thrilling moment to be part of this transformation.

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"Utilities have for decades “been using the same playbooks to build centralized generation and associated transmission and distribution to meet long-term demand needs. And it’s largely worked,” Shah said. “But with demand growth accelerating from data centers, new manufacturing, a surge of electric vehicles and electrified appliances ... an old grid operations paradigm needs to be updated.” After roughly two decades of stagnant electricity demand, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. now forecasts an approximately 15% to 20% increase in electricity consumption over the next decade, DOE noted in its brief. And by 2050, demand could double to meet net-zero emissions targets. Importantly, this demand growth is not unprecedented, according to Louise White, a senior consultant with the DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions and Loan Programs Office. Before 2005, the U.S. experienced periods of 10-year load growth of up to 30%, she said." https://lnkd.in/eZXGKWHf

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The Department of Energy has funded $6 million in research projects for an inaugural partnership in two DOE offices to better prepare the nation for multiple disruptive power events and enable rapid response in a crisis for U.S. grid operators. DOE’s Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) and DOE’s Office of Electricity (OE) will guide the research at five of the nation’s national laboratories in a new partnership. The need for faster computing of the vast amount of data on the grid will be addressed. The result of the work will help grid operators plan and implement solutions that bolster the reliability of our nation’s power grid and ensure affordable access to clean energy for every American.” https://lnkd.in/eZFwWu3Q

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🚨 Big news for the U.S. electric grid! 🚨 OE has teamed up with U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science & Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy to fund research projects that will boost resilience against power loss and enable rapid response in grid crisis situations. Want to learn more about these awards and how they use machine learning and supercomputers to make the grid more flexible and reliable? Read below! 👇

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📈 Corporate PPA activity in the ERCOT market has reached 1.8 GW, YTD 2024. Data from the Enerdatics Energy Transition PPA database indicates that ERCOT has seen ~1.8 GW in corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) since the start of 2024, constituting over 60% of the U.S. total. 💡 Tech giant Microsoft leads the way, having secured ~800 MW across three deals. Meanwhile, new entrants such as UnitedHealth Group, Sonoco, and AdventHealth are also stepping up their sustainability efforts. 🏆 Key Suppliers Making Waves: > Regional Leaders: Primergy, Leeward Renewable, Scout Clean Energy > International Players: Orsted, ENGIE 🤝 Positive PPA negotiations in ERCOT are driven by the market's lower land and interconnection costs, which help mitigate higher interest rates and supply chain issues. 🌟 Top Deals to Note: > Microsoft and Primergy Solar: 408 MW from Ash Creek solar project > Hyundai and Matrix Renewables: 147 MW (Hyundai’s first U.S. PPA) > RTX and ENGIE: ~38 MW from Priddy wind project #CorporatePPA #ERCOT #RenewableEnergy #Sustainability #Microsoft #Hyundai #RTX #ENGIE #Orsted #Primergy #LeewardRenewable #ScoutCleanEnergy #UnitedHealthGroup #Sonoco #AdventHealth

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RMI’s VP3 just published profiles of 14 VPPs that are providing 1500 MW of capacity across the US with ~4M participants. They detail out the grid services, participation parameters, and operator dynamics to shed light on successful models that are ready to scale up. “How utilities and their customers are already benefitting from VPPs and insights for future implementation.” #VirtualPowerPlants

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This article discussion flies in the face of the market PJM has created. A market that only supports short term assets like wind and solar backed up by gas or batteries. In short it confirms the market flaws that have been claimed by utilities over many years, and should encourage support for creating market signals to create long lived assets like baseload generation plants.

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🌟 Nexa Advisory has just published our fourth newsletter🌟 The energy transition is well underway, and we are at the heart of it. We've been focused on: ✅ improving system planning around gas and demand-side developments ✅ NEM governance, and the role and performance of market bodies and networks ✅ better recognising the role of consumers in Australia's energy transition Read our December newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/dU44fpiT

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Infinigrid AS is presenting at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The topic is: A Novel, Unique, and Proven Approach to Performing Near Real Time Probabilistic Power System Risk Analyses as an Immediately Available Solution for Unlocking Existing Grid Capacity by Facilitating the Safe Encroachment Into N-1 Power System Engineering https://lnkd.in/gbpDvqtF

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NORESCO’s Joe Singer will be at the IBPSA-USA SimBuild conference in Denver, where he will present, “Reimagining Photovoltaic and Battery Storage Sizing in Energy Codes: Requirements at the Space Function Level.” Co-written with colleagues Eric Shadd, P. E.,, Rahul Athalye and Rob Guglielmetti, the paper demonstrates a new framework which can support prescriptive PV and battery system code development to better track building loads of new designs. The framework uses three modules to (a) optimize PV and battery systems to meet export targets, (b) create a relationship map linking modeled systems to spaces, and (c) proportionally distribute building level PV and battery to modeled spaces.

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Press Release: New Research Showcases Pivotal Shift Toward Energy Democracy [INFORMS Journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management] https://bit.ly/48ITzJP Study Key Takeaways: - Aggregating distributed energy resources (DERs) can significantly challenge and diminish the market power of traditional, large-scale electricity generators. - This method can lead to lower energy costs and make renewable energy more accessible and competitive. - This approach encourages the use of renewable energy sources, promoting environmental sustainability.

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