News

Conducted Renewable Energy Zones workshop in Tajikistan under USAID Power Central Asia project.

USAID’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy webinar, Variable Renewable Energy Generation Forecasting and Integration with Dispatching: Experiences from Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 webinar recording is available at https://lnkd.in/ehwkzipJ

https://www.usaid.gov/energy/sure/vre-forecasting-webinar

"I am very appreciative of Pramod Jain and the Innovative Wind Energy, Inc team's hard work and perseverance." Marina Barnett, Senior Program Coordinator, Energy Utility Partnership Program, U.S. Energy Association.

With USAID funding, the USEA–Central Asia Partnership provided the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC JSC) with a comprehensive review of currently available digital substation technologies - including best international practices and SWOT analysis - and suggested an optimal technology for implementation in Kazakhstan, helped KEGOC select a substation to host a pilot application of the technology, and developed a strategy roadmap for integrating the technology throughout KEGOC’s system. 

In the long term, this will enhance the capacity of KEGOC for reliable and efficient operation of Kazakhstan’s national electric grid, improving reliability and efficiency and reducing operational costs. 

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6851759608977993728/ 

We are organizing a USAID webinar under the Scaling Up of Renewable Energy project. 

VRE generation forecasting and its integration with dispatching and market operations is explored with experiences in Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. VRE forecasting helps utilities cost-effectively integrate utility-scale VRE and distributed energy resources into the power grid. Consumers will enjoy lower electricity prices and less risk of power outages as a result of the grid’s improved reliability and flexibility.

https://www.climatelinks.org/events/variable-renewable-energy-generation-forecasting-and-integration-dispatching-experiences

Renewable energy grid integration in Central Asia.

See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHfd9deKw0c&t=7622s&ab_channel=USAIDCTJ 

The re-integration of national power systems is essential for the creation of an open and competitive Regional Electricity Market in Central Asia. Better flexibility of the energy system will enable the deployment and integration of renewable energy (wind power and solar power) projects. This will not only enhance supply security and reliability; it will propel regional economic growth by creating significant business opportunities and attracting private investment into the power sectors of all five Central Asian countries. To help the region achieve this vision, USAID is providing technical, legal/regulatory and market assistance and capacity building to expedite creation of the market with improved transmission infrastructure, commercial pricing, and improved trust between the partners.

"USAID’s Central Asia Regional Electricity Market Activity" was published in the October 2021 edition of QazaqGreen.  Authors: Armen Arzumanyan, Pedro Rubiou and Pramod Jain.

Russian: https://spaq.kz/images/080921/QG_RU_2.pdf

English: https://spaq.kz/images/QG_EN_2.pdf

Summary

Individual countries in Central Asia, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, have set ambitious targets to increase the share of renewable generation. To meet these targets, these governments will need to develop diverse technical solutions to minimize the cost of integration of variable generation. This article presents various solutions, based on accepted practice, to assess and mitigate the impacts of variable renewable generation at the regional level. The technical solutions focus on mitigating the impacts of RE on the grid through upgrades to the transmission system and system operations, and adoption of regional electricity market and balancing area. One of the lowest cost solutions is to increase the balancing area to encompass the entire Central Asian region, thereby sharing reserves and coordinating scheduling and operation. As discussed, these solutions can be effectively implemented in a functional and coordinated regional power market. At present, the USAID-funded CAREM Activity is supporting the Central Asian governments to develop the rules, procedures and institutional arrangements to create this market and increase the deployment and development of renewable generation throughout Central Asia. 

/sites/default/files/migrated-d7/page-uploads/Qazaq%20Green%20USAID%20article.pdf 

Invited presentation on June 29, 2021 at this webinar:

https://www.trade.gov/sabit-wind-power organized by the US Department of Commerce, International Trade Division.

Presented at USAID organized webinar series.  See the recording here (RE Zones presentation starts from minute 29)

https://www.usaid.gov/energy/sure/system-planning-webinar

The topic of this webinar is the development of renewable energy (RE) zones.  RE Zone is a best practice for accelerating the development of RE projects and attracting private sector investments to the deployment of renewable energy plants.  It is especially useful in conducting successful RE auctions.  The webinar will describe a methodology for creating RE Zones.  The methodology specifies the following: parameters that should be used to qualify the zones, ranking scheme for grading zones along each parameter, and scoring scheme for determining the most favorable zones.  The first phase of the methodology is based on desktop analysis with GIS tools and datasets that are mostly available in the public domain.  Subsequent phases of the methodology include RE resource measurement campaign, grid integration studies, environmental impact studies, logistics study, land availability assessment and others.  RE Zones developed using this methodology would result in successful and competitive auctions because most of the risks to bidders has been reduced.

Coauthored an article in the Renewable Energy World with the WWF team on "More wind and solar capacity could save some of the world’s most important rivers".

https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/more-wind-and-solar-capacity-could-save-some-of-the-worlds-most-important-rivers/

Conducted a lecture on wind energy for MSE 8803I Class at Georgia Tech.

IWE was awarded the project and it will assist KEGOC with the IEC 61850 standard, digital technologies, choosing a pilot and preparing a roadmap.

USEA and USAID recently launched a new project on Digital Substation Technology for KEGOC JSC.

The project, implemented within the framework of the USEA–Central Asia Partnership, will provide KEGOC with a comprehensive review of currently available digital substation technologies and develop a strategy roadmap for integrating a digital substation technology throughout KEGOC’s system.

In the long run, the project will result in improved reliability and efficiency of Kazakhstan’s national electric grid and reduce KEGOC’s operational costs.

Innovative Wind Energy (IWE) is part of a team that was awarded a five-year contract to support the continuation of USAID’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy (SURE) project. Led by Tetra Tech as the prime contractor, SURE builds on USAID’s work with 20 partner countries to promote competitive procurement of renewable energy generation, integrate variable renewable energy into national power grids, support development of progressive energy policies, and seek solutions to power health facilities and create a climate-smart future.

Recent advancements in renewable energy technologies and business models have made solar and wind power viable options for emerging economies. Battery storage prices also have declined, providing opportunities to meet demand through innovative, market-driven options.

Under the SURE project, IWE will provide technical services and build capacity around renewable energy planning, grid integration, and auctions, as well as strategies and technologies to cultivate a more circular economy.

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For more information about the SURE project, please contact:

Arai Monteforte, Chief of Party

Tetra Tech ES, Inc.

1320 N. Courthouse Road, Suite 600 | Arlington, VA 22201

Tel: +1 (703) 387-2100

Email: Arai.Monteforte@tetratech.com