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New Features on http://www.UFTO.COM

*Scroll to the bottom of the home page, and click on
“Recommended Reading & UFTO EXTRAS”
*Note the link at the top:
“For a list of newsletters and publications regularly scanned by UFTO, click here.”
Any new ones to suggest?

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See below for these items:

*Cleantech Venture Network Issues First Report
*IEEE 1547 Interconnection Standard Passes Ballot
*Army Venture Capital Fund
*New Report on Energy Storage
*New Model to Analyze Distributed Power Projects
*Sag Line Mitigator — EPRI TC proposal

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Cleantech Venture Network Issues First Report (See UFTO Note, 26 Jul 2002)

The first Cleantech Investment Monitor was released last week. It reports that investments in “clean” technology companies – ranging from fuel cells to water purification systems exceeded US$500 million in the first half of 2002, more than doubling from Q1 to Q2.. It also lists company investments made during the quarter, and profiles selected companies and investors. Download (27 pages) at:
http://www.cleantechventure.com/

Also the website has much more to offer now, including investor membership sign-up (options include Forum, Deal Flow, and Investment Monitor). Plans for the first venture forum (Toronto, Nov 13-14) are proceeding well. Over 40 companies have applied, and 15-20 will be selected to present.

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IEEE 1547 Interconnection Standard Passes Ballot

The IEEE P1547/D10 Draft Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources(DR) With Electric Power Systems(EPS) received 90% affirmatives in the ballot that closed September 26, 2002.

Separately, the Standards Board approved new numbers for the three new working groups. Next meeting are in San Francisco October 8-10: (see UFTO Note 09 Sep 2002)

–P1547.1 (formerly P1589) – Draft Standard for Conformance Test Procedures for Equipment Interconnecting DR with EPS
–P1547.2 (formerly P1608) – Draft Application Guide for IEEE Standard 1547 for Interconnecting DR with EPS
–P1547.3 (formerly P1614) – Draft Guide for Monitoring, Information Exchange and Control of DR Interconnected with EPS.

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Army Venture Capital Fund

Clearly modeled after the CIA’s In-Q-Tel fund (http://www.in-q-tel.com/), the U.S. Army issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to solicit proposals for the operation and management of a not-for-profit, Venture Capital Corporation (VCC). The objective is to improve the business relationships between the entrepreneurial community of high technology innovators and the U.S. Army. This is expected to accelerate the transition of innovative technology into the Army by creating greater awareness on the Army’s part concerning commercial technology development and in the entrepreneurial community concerning the Army’s potential as a technology customer willing to accept innovative solutions to its requirements. The focus initially will be on companies and programs developing power and energy technology applicable to the requirements of the individual soldier.

The BAA was issued Aug 29, and the deadline for proposals was just extended from Sept 30 to Oct 15. UFTO will follow this story with great interest. (I am advising a local VC firm who plans to submit a proposal.)

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New Report on Energy Storage

“Energy Storage: The Sixth Dimension of the Electricity Value Chain”, by Richard Baxter and Jason Makansi, of PearlStreet, Inc.

The report focuses on understanding potential business opportunities and developing long-term market strategies, describing the leading storage technologies (including pumped-hydro, compressed air energy storage, regenerative fuel cells/flow batteries, sodium/sulphur and lead acid batteries, superconducting magnetic energy storage, flywheels, thermal, and hydrogen systems), existing installations, and current market leaders. The 230-page report also includes 87 tables, market insights from leading industry thinkers, outlines of market applications including ancillary services and their impact on existing industry participants, a review of state and regional business opportunities, and forecasts of the impact on the US economy. (20% discount til 30 Nov). For details:
http://www.pearlstreetinc.com/Energy%20Storage%20Report.htm

Contact: Richard Baxter, rbaxter@pearlstreetinc.com, 617.320.0598

In 2002, Pearl Street founded the Energy Storage Council, a non-profit organization formed to support the energy storage community in its effort to accelerate the introduction of energy storage systems and technologies into the marketplace. http://www.energystoragecouncil.org

[Note that the Electricity Storage Association’s next meeting starts this Thursday Oct 10 in Milwaukee. http://www.electricitystorage.org]

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New Model to Analyze Distributed Generation Power Projects

Competitive Energy Insight (CEI) in San Diego is offering a new tool for the evaluation of DG projects, based on a model they developed for utility and other large scale power plants. EconExpert-DG is a financial model for the complete before and after tax financial analysis of DG and “Inside-the-Fence” cogen projects. The model can be used to evaluate and make decisions on virtually any DG Project or Technology, allowing owners, investors, developers and equipment suppliers to better understand the economic benefits and risks of self-generation. A suite of automated sensitivity functions make it easy to evaluate how changes in current project costs or future market conditions will impact their investment decision. The model also includes many automated analysis functions and on-line help features. The User’s Manual can be downloaded from CEI’s website.

CEI’s EconExpert-LP (for Large Power) is a similar tool for Central Power Station and Merchant Power Projects.

A 30 day free trial is offered to qualified parties. CEI’s website provides additional details and can be reached at:
http://www.CEIInc.NET or www.EconExpert.NET

or contact :
Steve Provol, Competitive Energy Insight, Inc.
858-566-0221, CEIInc@san.rr.com

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Sag Line Mitigator — EPRI TC proposal

UFTO has been following this story for a long time, and they’ve made tremendous progress. [Summary: SLiM reacts to increasing conductor temperature by decreasing the effective length of conductor in the span. This mitigates the natural thermal expansion experienced by the conductor during high temperature operation. The impact is to decrease line sag during such operations.] For a good overview, download this pdf file:
http://www.misolution.com/SLiM%20Story%20080302.pdf

The initial test program went very well, and now plans are underway for utility demonstrations, under an EPRI tailored collaboration project (open to members and nonmembers of EPRI). The project will evaluate the performance of SLiM on three operating transmission lines, and will provide participating utilities with first-hand information on the operational performance of this new kind of line hardware device. For a description of the proposed TC, download:
http://www.epri.com/attachments/286162_1007295.pdf
Contact:
Manuchehr Shirmohamadi, 510-594-0300 x202, MShir@MISolution.com
or Ram Adapa, EPRI project manager, 650.855.8988, radapa@epri.com