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Plugged In | November 2024

November 4, 2024

Department of Energy

National Transmission Planning Study

The Department of Energy has released its long-awaited National Transmission Planning Study. The 800-plus-page document provides a series of scenarios for the grid to reach a 90% or greater reduction in carbon emissions by 2035 (from 2005 levels). 

Reuters 

US Awards Contracts to Process HALEU Fuel for High-Tech Reactors 

Six companies have been awarded contracts to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel in commercial volumes. The contracts seek to shore up the domestic supply of uranium fuel to be used in advanced nuclear reactors.  

Sodium Ion set to Impact Thriving US Battery Market

Natron Energy announced plans to scale up a sodium-ion battery factory in North Carolina scaling up its production by 40 times. Key materials in sodium-ion batteries can be sourced domestically making it competitive to lithium-ion batteries.  

Renewable Energy World

DOE to Commit $24M for Clean Energy Workforce Training 

The Department of Energy announced the funding with a focus on training clean energy jobs that do not require a four-year degree. The funding will expand the existing Industrial Assessment Centers network to include trade schools. 

MSN

22 States Want to Employ 1 Million People in Climate Apprenticeships by 2035 

Description: Governors of 22 states and two U.S. territories want to get 1 million people to complete climate friendly and low-carbon energy apprenticeships by 2035. The Governors’ Climate-Ready Workforce will set up funding and partnerships to mitigate climate change.  

CISA

CISA, FBI, NSA and International Partners Release Advisory on Iranian Cyber Actors Targeting Critical Infrastructure Organizations Using Brute Force 

CISA, FBI, NSA and other international partners have released an advisory concerning Iranian backed cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure. The alert notes that cyber actors are targeting organizations using brute force tactics.

Utility Drive

DOE Allocates $43.2M to Advance Industrial Decarbonization Technologies  

The Department of Energy announced $43.2 million to 21 projects that will develop technologies that advance industrial decarbonization. Sixteen projects will receive $38 million targeting cross-sector technologies, and an additional $5.2 million would support the five remaining projects. 

The Hill

Biden Administration Putting $1.5B Into Four Electric Power Projects—Including Interconnection for Texas’s Isolated Grid

The Biden administration is putting $1.5 billion into four transmission projects to improve grid reliability and energy access. The projects will enable 7,100 MW of new electric power capacity in Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas connecting the isolated power grid to the southeastern U.S. for the first time.

Data Center Dynamics

PJM Sets Out Proposal to Hasten Grid Connection for Shovel-Ready Projects

The PJM Interconnection has proposed to expedite shovel-ready projects to the grid. The grid operator is considering three avenues for changes and will provide stakeholders with a formal proposal before filing it with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

KSNT

Projects Receiving Over $17M to Strengthen Kansas’ Energy Grid

Kansas has secured $17 million to strengthen the state's energy grid. $12 million will come from the Department of Energy's Grid Resilience Grant Program with the other $5.8 million coming from the Kansas Infrastructure Hub and Build Kansas Fund.

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