The California Energy Commission (CEC) is seeking applications to demonstrate and deploy advanced energy efficiency and load reduction technologies in industrial and commercial cold storage facilities.
Donor Name: California Energy Commission (CEC)
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/02/2024
Size of the Grant: $3,500,000
Details:
The goals are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enable load shifting capabilities to benefit the grid, and gather real-world energy data to help existing and planned cold storage and refrigeration facilities reduce energy use and costs.
The development of this solicitation is guided by the California Energy Commission Electric Program Investment Charge 2021 Interim Investment Plan. This solicitation pertains to the research Initiative 2, Energy Efficiency and Demand Response in Industrial, Agricultural, and Commercial Cold Storage. This solicitation seeks projects developing and deploying innovative technologies and solutions that must fall within one of the following project groups:
Group 1: Industrial Refrigerated Warehouses
The Project Narrative must discuss the following in the sections identified:
- Demonstrations must be at an existing industrial cold storage facility located in an electric IOU service territory. Applicants must provide at least one site and a backup site and include demonstration site descriptions in the Technical Approach section.
- Applicants must include one or more of the eligible technologies and provide justification within the Technical Merit section on why the proposed technology is applicable for this funding opportunity.
- Applicants must provide justification for how the proposed technology(ies) will meet or exceed the required and other proposed research targets, that they are technically and economically feasible, and that they have potential for commercial deployment by similar facilities beyond the term of the grant in the Technical Merit section.
- For projects that target permanent load shifting:
- In the Technical Merit section, applicants must explain how the load flexibility projects will load shift and the corresponding hourly GHG savings for each shift.
- Applicants must evaluate cost savings and GHG emission and load reductions based on an annual 8760 hour model such as Energy Plus using the actual rates and GHG factors of the respective electric IOU. For example, if a project shifts a 500 kW load from 5 pm to 3 pm, the energy model must be able to calculate the marginal GHG difference and provide a cumulative savings. The model must be able to evaluate the kWh and kW energy and cost impacts, for each hour of the year, and report them as hourly impacts as well as summarize these impacts and customer costs, reflecting the current electric tariffs of the applicable electric IOU. If multiple tariff options are available to customers, the model should compare costs across those different options.
- Applicants must provide a description and summary of the model results, including assumptions and references for the hourly load reductions and cost impact during the net peak period, in the Technical Approach section.
- In the Technical Merit section, describe the adaptability of the technology to respond to changes in electricity rate structures and grid needs (e.g., as storage capacity increases; new renewable capacity comes online; new renewable sources, such as offshore wind, come online).
- In the Disadvantaged & Low-Income Communities section, indicate if the project location(s) are in disadvantaged, low-income, or tribal communities. If the project benefits these communities, indicate specific benefits it will provide to the communities. Include information on past and planned community engagement activities.
Group 2: Commercial Cold Storage Facilities
The purpose of this group is to reduce GHG emissions in cold storage facilities found in commercial buildings such as grocers, institutional facilities (schools, hospitals, government), and retail. Projects funded by this group will ideally provide energy efficiency, demand flexibility, cost savings, and other benefits. The Project Narrative must discuss the following in the sections identified:
- Demonstrations must be at an existing cold storage facility located in an electric IOU service territory. Applicants must provide at least two sites and a backup site and include demonstration site descriptions in the Technical Approach section.
- Applicants must include one or more of the eligible technologies and provide justification within the Technical Merit section on why the proposed technology is applicable for this funding opportunity.
- In the Technical Merit section, applicants must provide justification for how the proposed technology(ies) will meet or exceed the required or other proposed research targets, are technically and economically feasible, and have potential for commercial deployment by similar facilities beyond the term of the grant.
- Projects that target permanent load shifting must provide evaluation of cost savings and GHG emissions and load reduction based on an 8760 hour model such as Energy Plus using the actual rates and GHG factors of the respective electric IOU. The model must be able to evaluate the kWh and kW energy and cost impacts, for each hour of the year, and be reported as hourly impacts as well as summary impacts and customer costs reflecting current electric tariffs for the respective IOU. If multiple tariff options are available to customers, costs should be compared across those different options. Provide description, including assumptions and references, in the Technical Approach section.
- In the Technical Merit section, describe the adaptability of the technology to respond to changes in electricity rate structures and grid needs (e.g., as storage capacity increases; new renewable capacity comes online; new renewable sources, such as offshore wind, come online).
- In the Disadvantaged & Low-Income Communities section, indicate if the project locations are in disadvantaged, low-income, or tribal communities. If the project benefits these communities, indicate specific benefits it will provide to the communities. Include information on past and planned community engagement activities.
Project Focus
Eligible technologies for this solicitation include:
- Advanced dehumidification technologies that reduce refrigeration loads
- Defrosting and frost build-up prevention technologies (e.g., coatings)
- Integrated thermal energy storage technologies, such as dedicated ice storage, brine cold storage that enables operational flexibility, and electric load shifting
- Retrofits that enable waste heat recovery and reuse (for instance, conversion of concrete slab heating from electricity to heating with heat transfer fluid, enabling reuse of compressor waste heat)
- Advanced controls enabling operations scheduling and pre-cooling during off-peak times, optimizing defrosting cycles in response to grid conditions, operating electric motors and pumps, etc.
Funding Information
- Group 1: Industrial Refrigerated Warehouses
- Available funding: $7,000,000
- Minimum award amount: $1,000,000
- Maximum award amount: $3,500,000
- Group 2: Commercial Cold Storage Facilities
- Available funding: $3,000,000
- Minimum award amount: 500,000
- Maximum award amount: $3,000,000
Eligibility Criteria
This solicitation is open to all public and private entities with the exception of local publicly owned electric utilities. In accordance with CPUC Decision 12-05-037, funds administered by the CEC may not be used for any purposes associated with local publicly owned electric utility activities.
For more information, visit California Energy Commission.
