Renewable Energy & Emerging Technologies

Hydroelectric energy, harnessed from the natural flow of water, stands as a testament to sustainable power generation, offering a clean, renewable source of electricity. Despite being the most mature renewable technology, hydropower faces several challenges nowadays, including aging infrastructures that require significant investments and the changing dynamics of modern power markets affecting operation and maintenance practices. That’s where ENTRUST Solutions Group comes in. We collaborate with power producers in the United States and Canada, providing expert advice on their generating assets—whether they’re small or large conventional hydro or pumped storage hydro facilities. Our expertise spans from health assessments to serving as the owner’s representative, as well as covering detail engineering and outage planning.

Offshore wind technology holds enormous capacity for energy generation in the future. Planning and developing these resources require intelligent investment of expertise and financial resources. ENTRUST Solutions Group collaborates with energy developers to assess both capacity and potential profitability based on factors such as location, grid accessibility, interconnection, energy storage, and distribution. Designing a robust and maximally productive offshore wind facility is a matter of assessing numerous determining factors. These include environmental and regulatory measures, supporting access points for construction or deployment, approval, permitting, and interconnection.

By now the sight of onshore wind farms is common to most Americans. What isn’t well-known is how the energy created by those wind-driven blades gets developed and distributed to the grid. At ENTRUST Solutions Group, we do. Yet making that happen is not just a matter of plugging into the grid. We determine the proper points of interconnection to the utility grid that enable wind farm developers to plan accordingly with confidence in all aspects of operational and regulatory standards. Feasibility and impact studies are conducted to examine potential reliability impacts injecting power at locations. System reinforcements may be necessary to maintain delivery and reliability which can be an important cost component for the viability of the project. The distributed collector systems are designed based on maximum efficiency and output. The expertise offered by ENTRUST Solutions Group extends to managing the implementation to the generation interconnection to the grid operator or planning coordinator and supporting the ongoing management needs of the wind facility including maintaining compliance with NERC and any other regional requirements.

The world of energy storage in response to renewable energy continues to evolve through traditional modes of capacity management such as pumped hydro to emerging technologies including thermal, compressed air, hydrogen, flywheels, batteries, and exchange systems accommodating energy return from these storage systems. Assessing the expense and practicality of these technologies, along with incentives such as renewable energy standards (RES) and renewable energy credits (REC) is where the nationwide expertise and regionally dedicated staff of ENTRUST Solutions Group is proving vital to the planning and success of energy storage projects across the United States.

The diversity of renewable energy sources contributing to distributed energy development requires immense expertise to resolve specific challenges in connecting to the grid. ENTRUST Solutions Group brings the power of data analytics to the task of helping energy partners achieve better performance and efficiency. Our clients also turn to us for expertise in local, state, and federal policies and regulations for insight on the practicality and affordability of distributed energy development projects. No matter the energy source, ENTRUST Solutions Group offers resources to help clients meet objectives and goals in distributed energy development. Our nationwide staff of power generation and delivery experts offers remote capability, automation, and regional support through strategically located offices.

Creating a microgrid frequently centers around financial objectives, including the ability to sell power back to the grid. Yet there are also practical and philosophical reasons why microgrids get developed for power generation, including energy independence and environmental considerations. Our front-end studies enable clients to determine the viability and affordability of microgrid strategies at all levels of implementation. Yet our engineering teams work hand-in-hand with clients in developing and managing microgrids at every stage and scale of operation from design to commissioning. These services deliver energy resiliency and enhance reliability including interconnection to the ever-evolving electric grid.

Growth in use of electric vehicles including hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and all-electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States is on the rise. As battery technology improves on many fronts, including lithium-ion batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, lead-acid batteries, and ultracapacitors, the potential for the practicality of using these electric vehicles as energy storage units with the ability to store and return energy to the grid has evolved as a component in a distributed energy industry system. Planning their connection to the grid in a distributed energy system is one of many ways ENTRUST Solutions Group is working toward the future of power generation and delivery.

High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) and Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) are opening new pathways to system planning where sources of renewable electricity are concerned. Variable sources of energy such as wind and solar farms produce periods of passive and active transmission. Processing this power for delivery requires entirely new management modes. With pending retirements of legacy power systems such as coal, the demand for versatility in connecting renewable power sources to the grid is growing by the day. Preparing for that future is what ENTRUST Solutions Group does for clients across a spectrum of needs. Our nationwide network of power generation and delivery experts and strategically located regional offices provides deep-level knowledge, remote functionality, and direct consultation and planning for every type of project.

Cogeneration works almost anywhere, which is why ENTRUST Solutions Group, with its nationwide reach and strategically located regional offices is consulting with clients to plan generation projects nearer the point of consumption than other alternative energy sources. Our engineers deliver insight on maximizing efficiency through waste heat recovery, using a range of dedicated/renewable fuels to provide electricity and thermal energy onsite. The viability and cost-effectiveness of these techniques is proving valuable to a wide range of users. Capturing and repurposing energy makes sense and ENTRUST Solutions Group provides the expertise to make it happen for clients across industrial, commercial, institutional, and public/private campuses across the United States.

As energy companies implement their decarbonization goals towards becoming net zero carbon producers, renewable natural gas (RNG) projects are proving their worth as next-generation solutions. Landfills, animal & food waste, wastewater plants, and other synthetic gas sources present considerable potential as biomethane natural gas producers. Helping companies put that energy source to use through gas processing and technical interconnects to natural gas pipelines is just one of the ways that ENTRUST Solutions Group is providing technical support in the decarbonization initiative.

ENTRUST’s highly experienced team of engineers, metallurgists, safety professionals, and project managers are perfectly positioned to support the rapidly evolving hydrogen marketplace. Our team’s diverse experience supporting gas and electric utilities allows us to leverage in-house subject matter experts across the gas and electric transmission, distribution, and power generation spaces. We utilize this expertise to help shape projects and provide the necessary perspective to a broad group of stakeholders, helping them grasp the economic implications and engineering complexities involved in these cross-functional projects.