Editor's note: From the Department of Energy backing a project that will connect ERCOT to other states' grid to energy innovators being named finalists in the Houston Innovation Awards, these are the top headlines that resonated with EnergyCapital readers on social media and daily newsletter this week.
$360M DOE grant to fund project that will connect ERCOT to US power grid
For the first time, Texas's ERCOT grid will be connected to other states' grids thanks to funding from the Department of Energy. Photo via Getty Images
Thanks to recently announced funding, the power grid for the territory served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) will be connected to grids in other states.
Officials hope building a 320-mile transmission line that connects the ERCOT electric grid to electric grids in the Southeast will prevent power outages like the massive blackout that occurred in 2022 when a winter storm blasted Texas.
San Francisco-based Pattern Energy says its Southern Spirit project will cost more than $2.6 billion. Full-scale construction is supposed to get underway in 2028, and the project is set to go online in 2031. Continue reading.
ExxonMobil signs biggest offshore CCS lease in the U.S.
The offshore site is adjacent to a CO2 pipeline network that ExxonMobil acquired in 2023 with its $4.9 billion purchase of Plano-based Denbury Resources. Photo via ExxonMobil.com
Spring-based ExxonMobil continues to ramp up its carbon capture and storage business with a new offshore lease and a new CCS customer.
On October 10, ExxonMobil announced it had signed the biggest offshore carbon dioxide storage lease in the U.S. ExxonMobil says the more than 271,000-acre site, being leased from the Texas General Land Office, complements the onshore CO2 storage portfolio that it’s assembling.
“This is yet another sign of our commitment to CCS and the strides we’ve been able to make,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a news release. Continue reading.
Houston-area researchers score $1.5M grant to develop storm response tech platform
OpenSafe.AI, a new platform that utilizes AI, data, and hazard and resilience models to support storm response decision makers, has secured an NSF grant. Photo via Getty Images
Researchers from Rice University have secured a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to continue their work on improving safety and resiliency of coastal communities plagued by flooding and hazardous weather.
The Rice team of engineers and collaborators includes Jamie Padgett, Ben Hu, and Avantika Gori along with David Retchless at Texas A&M University at Galveston. The researchers are working in collaboration with the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center and the Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice and A&M-Galveston’s Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas.
Together, the team is developing and hopes to deploy “Open-Source Situational Awareness Framework for Equitable Multi-Hazard Impact Sensing using Responsible AI,” or OpenSafe.AI, a new platform that utilizes AI, data, and hazard and resilience models "to provide timely, reliable and equitable insights to emergency response organizations and communities before, during and after tropical cyclones and coastal storm events," reads a news release from Rice. Continue reading.
Houston geothermal co. expands DOD partnership with South Texas initiative
Sage Geosystems will onboard its technology at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi. Photo via Naval Air Station Corpus Christi/Facebook
Expanding on its partnership with the United States Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit, Sage Geosystems has been selected to conduct geothermal project development initiatives at Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi.
Along with the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, Sage will provide its proprietary Geopressured Geothermal Systems technology, will be able to evaluate the potential for geothermal baseload power generation to provide clean and consistent energy at the Naval Air Station base.
“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with the DOD at NAS Corpus Christi to demonstrate the advantages of geothermal technology for military energy independence,” Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, says in a news release. Continue reading.
Houston energy transition innovators named finalists for annual awards program
Nearly 20 Houston startups and innovators were named finalists for the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards this week. Photo via Getty Images
The Houston Innovation Awards have named its honorees for its 2024 awards event, and several clean energy innovators have made the cut.
The finalists, which were named on EnergyCapital's sister site InnovationMap this week, were decided by this year's judges after they reviewed over 130 applications. More 50 finalists will be recognized in particular for their achievements across 13 categories, which includes the 2024 Trailblazer Legacy Awards that were announced earlier this month.
All of the honorees will be recognized at the event on November 14 and the winners will be named. Registration is open online. Representing the energy industry are 21 finalists. Continue reading.