21st Century Power Partnership
Goal
The Power Partnership is a multilateral effort of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and serves as a platform for public-private collaboration to advance integrated policy, regulatory, financial, and technical solutions for the large-scale deployment of renewable energy in combination with deep energy efficiency and smart grid solutions.
Overview
The 21st Century Power Partnership (21CPP) focuses on four key activities associated with power system transformation around the globe:
- Supporting country-level policy and regulatory implementation
- Sharing knowledge and best practices
- Strengthening and disseminating tools
- Bolstering expert capacity
Activities
A collaborative report from the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) on Lessons Learned for Rapid Decarbonization of Power Sectorswas delivered to energy ministers and presented at the 13th CEM (CEM13) in the United States in September 2022. In light of the lessons learned and discussed at CEM13, several jurisdictions signaled intent to develop action plans for power sector decarbonization, to be released at CEM14 in India in July 2023. These action plans complement, but are differentiated from, other international power sector initiatives such as the Breakthrough Agenda (with a broad purpose to raise collective ambition) and the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium (with goals to convene power system operators to accelerate research innovations and foster peer learning). The action plans, supported by the 21st Century Power Partnership and other CEM workstreams via direct technical assistance and capacity building, are intended to focus on select implementation actions given each country’s existing power sector goals and activities, and are an opportunity for countries to display leadership in power sector decarbonization. These action plans are voluntary, developed by each country individually, not comprehensive of all activities within the jurisdiction, and are living documents that are subject to change.
First Cohort of Action Plans—CEM14
POWER SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION
Goal
Reports and Workshops on Best Practices in Grid Management and Market Operations for Integrating Variable Renewable Energy
Additional Information
The first consultation of the Aspirational Targets working group was completed and the results were A hallmark of our work program in renewable energy grid integration focuses on “International Best Practices in Electric Grid Management and Market Operations for Integrating Variable Renewable Energy.” We have partnered with leading development organizations, foundations, and others to conduct grid integration studies in India and Mexico and are currently starting such a study in South Africa. The audience for these reports and workshops are policymakers, regulators, grid planners/operators, and civic society. This activity aims to provide a comparison and analysis of practices in:
- Electric grid management, including forecasting renewable energy production and balancing/scheduling
- Data and model needs for informative grid integration studies
- The role of flexible generators in systems with large amounts of variable generation
- Market operations, such as open access and ancillary services that are implemented in or considered for various jurisdictions around the world to enable large penetration and integration of variable wind and solar.
How to Join?
Contact 21stCenturyPower@nrel.gov
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Goal
Report and Workshops on Best Practices for State-Level Policymakers
Additional Information
A near-term work program on energy efficiency includes multiple state-level workshops on integrating energy efficiency targets into power system planning and the development of a report summarizing the key findings and recommendations. State government engagement is essential, and various state regulators have shown some interest in capturing and deploying more energy efficiency, though much more needs to be done.
The report and workshops will discuss the merits of concrete policies and programs to incentivize energy efficiency, such as:
- Establishing sustainable funding for efficiency through rates, public benefit charges or recycling revenues from pollution, carbon or other levies on fossil fuels
- Establishing energy efficiency procurement obligations (like the statutory renewable obligations), requiring distribution utility efficiency plans, goals and programs
- Providing proportional financial support to super-efficient appliance and building programs
- Requiring payment for demand response services to optimize supply and demand balance.
How to Join?
Contact 21stCenturyPower@nrel.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
