Climate change, environmental impacts, energy efficiency, zero-emissions. No longer buzzwords and theories, these are becoming the driving issues for the near as well as long-term future. The global power industry is in a state of transformation and needs to accelerate its journey to net zero as many companies, communities and stakeholders forge ahead with commitments to lower carbon emissions.

To address the challenge of maintaining grid reliability while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Black & Veatch, an employee-owned engineering, procurement, consulting, and construction company, has been increasing its focus on advancing renewable energy and energy storage technologies, as well as furthering the deployment of hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel and advanced technologies for carbon capture. Within its power delivery portfolio, the company is also investing in grid modernization solutions to accommodate a more diverse power generation landscape of base load and intermittent sources.

Recognizing the timeline its clients need to reliably achieve varying decarbonization targets, the company announced it will cease participation in any further coal-based power design and construction. This shift allows its workforce to further accelerate the creation of solutions that help transform the industry, including helping clients reduce dependence on coal power assets and minimize the impact of those assets to the environment.

From the need to better integrate renewable energy into the grid to ensuring increased resilience and reliability while pursuing a lower-carbon footprint, electric utilities are working to transform themselves into an ever-evolving, complex energy ecosystem. Black & Veatch’s new 2020 Strategic Directions: Electric Report details these drivers and provides insight into the most effective way for the electric industry to respond.

The survey of more than 600 leaders in the industry offers deep perspective on a power sector where “new energy” in the form of renewables drawn from solar and wind, both on land and increasingly offshore, continues to accelerate. Calls for decarbonization from corporations, activists, shareholders, states, and nations are increasing, fueling the need for utilities to balance energy portfolios in a move towards cleaner, more environmentally friendly options.

More than three-quarters of respondents indicated that they are devoting more of their capital spending to clean energy. In addition, eight of ten respondents forecast that over the next five years, more of their spending in new generation capacity will be directed at solar arrays on land, followed closely by energy storage and, eventually, microgrids and other DER (distributed energy resources).

Black & Veatch has stated its commitment to supporting its clients’ emissions reduction and decarbonization objectives as it is its own. By 2023, the company plans to have reduced its overall emissions by 20% and fleet and building emissions by 40% (compared to 2019). The company will fulfill current project commitments to completion while its efforts will focus on supporting clients through their transition to a balanced energy portfolio with cleaner energy sources and towards achieving their decarbonization and sustainability goals.

The energy industry is facing a wide variety of issues that must be addressed by companies in all segments.

• New regulations are creating new dynamics – traditional methods of operating a power utility with separate generation, transmission and distribution assets are giving way to more integrated approaches.
• EVs (electric vehicles) and electrified fleets are gaining traction as vehicle production and delivery intensifies, requiring power providers to meet charging needs as increasingly empowered consumers – both citizens and commercial and industrial interests – test utilities’ business models.
• New power generation technologies harnessing green hydrogen produced through renewable power and more advanced battery storage show growing promise in the quest for decarbonization.
• Climate change, COVID-19, and shifting demographics highlight an industry where there is no one-size-fits-all dynamic and management of the grid is becoming more targeted and localized.
• Aging infrastructure remains the chief concern among one-third of respondents, down 13 percentage points from a year ago. But renewables remained the secondary focal point, relatively unchanged from 2019 at more than one-quarter of the survey-takers.
• Nearly one-quarter of respondents say they would consider hydrogen as a source of peak generation.
• When asked which elements of DER are most challenging, two-thirds of respondents cited the ability to forecast, monitor and manage utility-owned and third-party DER.
• Sixty-eight percent of respondents are working to redesign their regulated rate and pricing structures to accommodate an increased penetration of DER.

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