EV Grid Breakthrough, $2.9M Battery Grant, & Meta’s Massive Nuclear Deal

The future of energy is unfolding through innovative solutions that merge transportation, storage, and grid management into integrated systems. Utrecht's groundbreaking vehicle-to-grid network demonstrates this perfectly—transforming electric vehicles into mobile power plants that balance renewable energy while providing shared mobility services. This dual-purpose approach could revolutionize how we think about EVs, changing them from mere transportation to crucial components of our energy infrastructure.

Meanwhile, advancements in sodium battery technology offer a promising alternative to lithium-ion dominance. Unigrid's new manufacturing facility in California represents a significant step toward commercializing these salt-based batteries that boast exceptional longevity, safety, and freedom from critical materials like cobalt and nickel. As China already deploys these batteries in vehicles and grid applications, the technology's global expansion seems increasingly inevitable.

The stark contrast between energy innovation and security challenges couldn't be clearer. While Meta secures its clean energy future through a massive nuclear power agreement with Constellation Energy, and Saudi Arabia's massive Neom hydrogen project approaches completion, America's grid security faces a troubling development with one-third of the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency's workforce departing amid looming budget cuts. This exodus of expertise comes precisely when sophisticated cyber threats from nation-state actors intensify against our critical infrastructure. The clean energy transition requires not just technological innovation but robust security frameworks to protect these increasingly connected systems. Whether through vehicle-to-grid networks, advanced batteries, or clean hydrogen production, the energy landscape is transforming—but its security must be prioritized if we want these innovations to fulfill their potential.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've got your energy stories for this.
The second week of June 2025.
And in the first one, utrechtNetherlands is launching
Europe's first large-scalevehicle-to-grid car-sharing
network.
Utrecht Energized connects EVsto the power grid to support
renewable energy balancing.
The project is a collaborationbetween we Drive Solar, my
Wheels, renault Group and themunicipality of Utrecht,

(00:23):
focusing on integration ofvariable wind and solar
resources into the grid, andover a third of Utrecht rooftops
have solar panels which createchallenges for the grid.
V2g lets EVs store surpluspower and deliver it to that
grid during peak demand.
The network will start with afleet of 50 Renault 5 e-tech

(00:43):
electric vehicles, with a planto scale to 500, eventually
including other models, all ofwhich will be equipped with
Mobilize's bidirectionalcharging technology.
Those 500 vehicles could yieldup to 10% of the flexibility
required to help balancerenewable power flows during
peak periods in the Utrechtregion.
In the Utrecht region, theNetherlands' largest car sharing

(01:07):
platform, mywheels, will manageoperations and we Drive Solar
will install the requisitecharging infrastructure.
In this car sharing model,users will access clean
transport options, while idlevehicles will provide grid
balancing services.
Well, sodium batterymanufacturer Unigrid
Incorporated has received $2.9million from the California
Energy Commission to build a12,000 square foot dedicated

(01:29):
sodium battery pilotmanufacturing facility in San
Diego.
The goal is to enable megawattscale production of sodium ion
battery cells.
Sodium batteries are lowerdensity than lithium ion, but
they have some very attractiveproperties.
They boast great cycle lives aslong as 10,000 cycles and
they're very stable.
There's no thermal runawaysafety issues.

(01:50):
Furthermore, there's no cobalt,lithium, nickel or copper
required.
Salt-based batteries arealready making their way into
cars and supporting the grid inChina as well, with
megawatt-scale projects alreadyhaving been announced.
It's a technology worthwatching.
Well, constellation Energy andMeta have signed a 20-year power
purchase agreement that willsee Constellation providing

(02:13):
1,121 megawatts of energy fromits Clinton nuclear plant in
Illinois.
The deal will commence in Juneof 2027, when Illinois' current
zero emissions credit programexpires.
That ZEC program, establishedin 2017, has financially
supported the Clinton plant andkept it open for the past eight
years.
Under the new agreement, theClinton facility will be

(02:35):
re-licensed and its outputexpanded by 30 megawatts.
Financial terms were notdisclosed.
Axios reports that approximately1,000 employees, or a third of
the overall workforce, havedeparted from the US
Cybersecurity InfrastructureSecurity Agency.
You know the folks who help uskeep our grids and water and gas

(02:56):
utilities secure.
Cesa is looking at a 17% budgetcut in 2026 under the proposed
budget from the White House.
Numerous employees about 600,just accepted the second buyout
and departed within the past fewweeks.
Per an internal memo quoted byAxios, most of CISA's senior
officials have now departed.

(03:16):
Given the clear fact that ourutilities are involved in an
ongoing and undeclared battlewith numerous advanced,
persistent threat actors fromcountries such as China, iran,
north Korea and Russia, thisnews should be of significant
concern to the utility communityand indeed to society at large.
Well, new York ISO is raisingconcerns that new renewable

(03:37):
capacity isn't being developedfast enough to meet growing
demand and reserve margins arefalling as a consequence.
It says it will need to addadditional fossil fuel
generation to maintain resourceadequacy and keep the lights on.
In its new annual Power Trendsreport, ceo Rich Dewey comments
that quote we must consider alloptions for investing in the
grid to provide for reliabilityand certainty at the most

(04:00):
efficient cost.
Unquote.
The American Clean PowerAssociation says that the US
installed 7.4 gigawatts ofutility-scale solar, wind and
energy storage in Q1 of thisyear, falling just short of Q1
of 2024's record 8.1 gigawatts.
Solar led with 4.4 gigawatts,followed by storage at 1.6

(04:22):
gigawatts and wind at 1.3.
That 4.4 gigawatts of solar,though, was 30 percent below
last year's number.
Surprisingly, florida took theleader's flag with 894 megawatts
of new solar capacity.
And those aforementionedbatteries which we keep
installing every quarter.
Well, they may get harder toinstall in the very near future.

(04:43):
Powen, the world's fourthlargest battery storage
integrator, says it may have tocut up to 250 employees in
Oregon and cease operations bylate July.
A victim of what it terms.
Quote unforeseen circumstances.
Unquote in the markets,increased tariffs, the potential
rapid repeal of tax credits anddomestic content requirements

(05:05):
are among the wins buffetingPowen and other battery
developers and operators.
And finally, from Saudi Arabia,air Products announces that the
massive 2,200 megawatt Neomgreen hydrogen and ammonia
project is now 80% complete.
Equipment installed to dateincludes 2,200 megawatts of

(05:25):
electrolyzers, an air separatorunit and ammonia storage tanks.
In addition, 2,200 megawatts ofsolar capacity and 1,600
megawatts of wind capacity havebeen built, along with a
dedicated transmission grid.
Well, that's all for this week.
We'll see you again soon.