Electric Power Research Institute
Encyclopedia
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) conducts research on issues related to the electric power industry in USA. EPRI is a nonprofit organization
funded by the electric utility
industry. EPRI is primarily a US based organization, receives international participation. EPRI's area covers different aspects of electric power generation, delivery
and its use.
Following Senate hearings in the early 1970s on the lack of R&D supporting the power industry, all sectors of the U.S. electricity industry pooled their funds to begin an industry-wide collaborative R&D program . EPRI was established in 1973 as the Electric Power Research Institute. Created as an independent, nonprofit organization designed to manage a broad public-private collaborative research program on behalf of the electric utility industry, the industry’s customers, and society at large.
EPRI’s creation was a recognition of the impact of electricity on modern life.
EPRI’s R&D program spans every aspect of generation, environmental protection, power delivery, retail use, and power markets. EPRI provides solutions and services to more than 1000 energy-related organizations in 40 countries.
EPRI has more than 900 patents to its credit.
EPRI laid the groundwork in the 1970s for the use of power electronics in the utility system, sometimes known as FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission Systems).
EPRI established the largest electric and magnetic fields health program in the world and played a pivotal role in resolving scientific questions concerning potential links to cancer.
EPRI is in the Advisory Council of the PHEV Research Center
.
EPRI created the world’s largest center for nondestructive testing, used first for nuclear inspection and now increasingly for internal diagnostics of fossil power plants and industrial systems.
The organization sees renewables such as wind and biomass supplying only a quarter of the electricity in 2050, and predicts solar power will not play a significant role. “It just doesn’t enter into our equation,” said Revis W. James, in an April 2009 article in The New York Times Energy and Environment Blog.
EPRI developed a clean coal technology
Roadmap, originally released in 2001. The Roadmap identifies a variety of research, development and demonstration priorities that if adequately funded and pursued, could lead to the successful development of a set of coal-based technologies that will be cost-effective, highly efficient and achieve near zero emissions to our air and water resources.
In mid-2005, the CURC, in cooperation with EPRI, began an update of the Roadmap, including a review of both the programs and technologies identified in the original Roadmap, as well as the costs, performance levels, progress achieved during the last several years and total projected costs to government and industry if the goals of the Roadmap are to be achieved. DOE was consulted on a provisional basis to review the revised document. The new CURC-EPRI roadmap, released in September of 2006, defines the steps necessary to achieve near zero emissions from coal use, including the capture and sequestration of , and suggests that the investment necessary to achieve the goals of the Roadmap is approximately $17.0 billion between now and 2025. This amount reflects both the federal and industry investment (traditionally, the Federal cost-share has been 80% for R&D projects and 50% for demonstration projects).
The CURC-EPRI Roadmap includes a technology development program for carbon management, defined as the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide. The Roadmap targeted two approaches to carbon management: (1) higher efficiency; and (2) sequestration of in underground reservoirs. The cost of higher efficiency is contained within the power plant costs for both gasification and combustion based systems. The Roadmap separately identifies the cost of transport and injection (storage) in the carbon sequestration roadmap.
The goal of the CURC-EPRI Roadmap is to have, by 2025, new combustion and gasification based systems operating with carbon capture with an efficiency between 39% to 46% and a cost of electricity between 37 and 39 $/MW-hr. By 2025, the incremental cost to transport and sequester the is projected to be between 2 and 7 $/MW-hr.
of Maple Grove, Minnesota
, and also included fluid bed dryer engineer Heyl & Patterson Inc.
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, the U.S. Department of Energy’s
National Energy Technology Laboratory
, Lehigh University’s
Energy Research Center and engineering construction contractor WorleyParsons
.
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
funded by the electric utility
Electric utility
An electric utility is a company that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major provider of energy in most countries. It is indispensable to factories, commercial establishments,...
industry. EPRI is primarily a US based organization, receives international participation. EPRI's area covers different aspects of electric power generation, delivery
Electricity distribution
File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumers...
and its use.
Following Senate hearings in the early 1970s on the lack of R&D supporting the power industry, all sectors of the U.S. electricity industry pooled their funds to begin an industry-wide collaborative R&D program . EPRI was established in 1973 as the Electric Power Research Institute. Created as an independent, nonprofit organization designed to manage a broad public-private collaborative research program on behalf of the electric utility industry, the industry’s customers, and society at large.
EPRI’s creation was a recognition of the impact of electricity on modern life.
EPRI’s R&D program spans every aspect of generation, environmental protection, power delivery, retail use, and power markets. EPRI provides solutions and services to more than 1000 energy-related organizations in 40 countries.
EPRI has more than 900 patents to its credit.
EPRI laid the groundwork in the 1970s for the use of power electronics in the utility system, sometimes known as FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission Systems).
EPRI established the largest electric and magnetic fields health program in the world and played a pivotal role in resolving scientific questions concerning potential links to cancer.
EPRI is in the Advisory Council of the PHEV Research Center
PHEV Research Center
The PHEV Research Center in the University of California, Davis, United States, provides technology and policy guidance to the state, and to help solve research questions and address commercialization issues for PHEVs.It was launched in 2007 with fundings from the California Air Resources Board ...
.
EPRI created the world’s largest center for nondestructive testing, used first for nuclear inspection and now increasingly for internal diagnostics of fossil power plants and industrial systems.
Supporter of Clean Energy
EPRI champions the use of all generation technologies which are efficient, reliable, safe, and environmentally benign, but has concluded that coal and nuclear power will still supply two-thirds of our energy by 2050.The organization sees renewables such as wind and biomass supplying only a quarter of the electricity in 2050, and predicts solar power will not play a significant role. “It just doesn’t enter into our equation,” said Revis W. James, in an April 2009 article in The New York Times Energy and Environment Blog.
EPRI developed a clean coal technology
Clean coal technology
Clean coal technology is a collection of technologies being developed to reduce the environmental impact of coal energy generation. When coal is used as a fuel source, the gaseous emmissions generated by the thermal decomposition of the coal, include sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon...
Roadmap, originally released in 2001. The Roadmap identifies a variety of research, development and demonstration priorities that if adequately funded and pursued, could lead to the successful development of a set of coal-based technologies that will be cost-effective, highly efficient and achieve near zero emissions to our air and water resources.
In mid-2005, the CURC, in cooperation with EPRI, began an update of the Roadmap, including a review of both the programs and technologies identified in the original Roadmap, as well as the costs, performance levels, progress achieved during the last several years and total projected costs to government and industry if the goals of the Roadmap are to be achieved. DOE was consulted on a provisional basis to review the revised document. The new CURC-EPRI roadmap, released in September of 2006, defines the steps necessary to achieve near zero emissions from coal use, including the capture and sequestration of , and suggests that the investment necessary to achieve the goals of the Roadmap is approximately $17.0 billion between now and 2025. This amount reflects both the federal and industry investment (traditionally, the Federal cost-share has been 80% for R&D projects and 50% for demonstration projects).
The CURC-EPRI Roadmap includes a technology development program for carbon management, defined as the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide. The Roadmap targeted two approaches to carbon management: (1) higher efficiency; and (2) sequestration of in underground reservoirs. The cost of higher efficiency is contained within the power plant costs for both gasification and combustion based systems. The Roadmap separately identifies the cost of transport and injection (storage) in the carbon sequestration roadmap.
The goal of the CURC-EPRI Roadmap is to have, by 2025, new combustion and gasification based systems operating with carbon capture with an efficiency between 39% to 46% and a cost of electricity between 37 and 39 $/MW-hr. By 2025, the incremental cost to transport and sequester the is projected to be between 2 and 7 $/MW-hr.
DryFining
In 2010, EPRI was part of a team to be awarded with Power Engineering magazine’s 2010 Coal-Fired Project of the Year. The project, “DryFining,” created a new technology for coal-firing power plants that improves fuel quality, decreases volatile gas emissions, and reduces a plant’s operating expenses and maintenance costs. The team was led by electric service provider Great River EnergyGreat River Energy
Great River Energy is an electric transmission and generation cooperative in the U.S. state of Minnesota; it is the state's second largest electric utility, based on generating capacity, and the fifth largest generation and transmission cooperative in the U.S. in terms of assets...
of Maple Grove, Minnesota
Maple Grove, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 50,365 people , 17,532 households, and 13,955 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,532.3 people per square mile . There were 17,745 housing units at an average density of 539.9 per square mile...
, and also included fluid bed dryer engineer Heyl & Patterson Inc.
Heyl & Patterson Inc.
Heyl & Patterson Inc. is an American specialist engineering company, founded in 1887 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-19th Century:Heyl & Patterson was founded by Edmund W. Heyl and William J. Patterson in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, initially as a sales agency for elevator and...
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, the U.S. Department of Energy’s
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
National Energy Technology Laboratory
National Energy Technology Laboratory
The National Energy Technology Laboratory is a science, technology, and energy laboratory owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy . As part of DOE's national laboratory system, NETL supports DOE's mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States...
, Lehigh University’s
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
Energy Research Center and engineering construction contractor WorleyParsons
WorleyParsons
WorleyParsons Limited is a large Australian provider of professional services to the energy, resource, and complex process industries.The company has a market capitalisation greater than A$6 billion, and makes up about 0.55% of the S&P/ASX 200 index....
.