Our Present Focus
YES Specializes in Two Main Areas:
Hydro Licensing and Compliance - FERC Compliance, Relicensing of Existing Facilities, Licensing of New Hydro at Existing Dams, and Pumped Storage.
Recreation and Shoreline Management, Monitoring, and Planning - Existing Facilities, New Facilities, and Articles of License for Relicensed Facilities.
US DOE Peer Reviewer
YES President Nominated to Join DOE Peer Review Team
Young Energy Services’ Kevin Young has accepted a nomination to participate in the United States Department of Energy’s 2016 Peer Review held by the Water Power Technologies Office. Nominations are only extended to those considered experts in water power technology.
For nominees, this event is an exclusive opportunity to assess and advise the DOE’s Water Power Program. Invited participants will review and score projects typifying the program’s portfolio, as well as network with other experts and researchers.
The 2016 Peer Review concentrates on progress and innovation. Topics of discussion are expected to include wave modeling and characterizations for marine hydrokinetics, biological design, and modular and emerging hydropower technologies.
The event took place in early 2017.
POWER-GEN International
Power Generation Week - December 2016
President of YES Presents Pumped Storage Possibilities, Benefits at POWER-GEN International's December Power Generation Week 2016 - At the world’s largest power generation event, 20,000 attendees assemble to network, visit thousands of exhibits, and benefit from the expertise of leaders in their field. Over the course of three days, these veterans and innovators shared inside information relevant to their experience, identified advantages, and addressed challenges associated with the latest technologies available to the industry.
POWER-GEN 2016, held in Orlando, Florida, featured YES’s Kevin Young, whose presentation on pumped storage hydroelectric projects served as an essential element of a larger discussion on energy storage that included compressed air energy storage (CAES) and flow batteries. An article written about the event can be found here.
Mr. Young’s portion of the discussion covered the environmental and economic aspects of pumped storage hydroelectric projects, with emphasis on the ancillary, capacity, and energy arbitrage values. Carbon reductions and the reduced cycling of conventional generation were other key issues in focus during his discussion.
The basics of pumped storage hydroelectric projects are relatively simple. Water pumped into an upper reservoir for storage is later discharged into a lower reservoir during periods of accelerated consumer demand, where turbines generate it into electricity before pumping the water back into the upper reservoir. This allows pumped hydro storage to act as a giant battery in the grid system.
Interest in pumped hydroelectric storage has risen exponentially in the last decade, as it has proven a clean, sustainable, and cost-effective method of delivering energy. Only one water source is required to maintain the process. Furthermore, as Mr. Young revealed, such projects reduce the curtailment of other renewables like wind and solar.
Also notable among the dozens of benefits provided by pumped hydro storage is the repurposing of abandoned mines that were previously a hazardous blight to communities. When utilized by certain projects, including one in particular that Mr. Young has helped to advance, these subsurface operations alleviate environmental concerns and offer the potential to create jobs and boost local economies. Some, according to Mr. Young, even require little additional consideration in the way of engineering.
Power Generation Week 2016 - Energy Storage Panel and Course
Young, Others Present Course on Energy Storage at POWER-GEN 2016 - On December 12th, 2016, Young Energy Services’ Kevin Young was joined by Ingrid Bjorklund of Bjorklund Law and Robert Schulte of Schulte Associates in presenting a course on energy storage at POWER-GEN 2016 in Orlando, Florida.
The course, entitled “Energy Storage - Enabling Renewables and Providing Grid Stability” was targeted toward manufacturers of energy storage equipment, utility managers and technical staff, ISOs, and consultants, among others. One of the main objectives was to define the role of energy storage and specify how course participants could play a part in facilitating the development of energy storage projects that bring additional renewables to market and promote grid stability. The overarching intent was to heighten the attendee’s ability to assess factors such as installed capacity costs and utilization, willingness for investment, and ancillary benefit values.
Young and Schulte began the course with a primer on energy storage and its various forms, followed by Bjorklund, who provided a regulatory overview based on projects currently being proposed. Schulte introduced information on planning energy storage projects before being joined by Young, who later offered particulars on pumped hydro projects, in discussing the monetization of energy storage’s benefits. To close out the four-hour course, Young and Bjorklund gave an insider’s perspective on specific FERC dockets related to electric storage participation.
During the event, instructors compared energy storage to transmission improvements as an avenue to bridge the gap in production left by a waning coal industry, and how nuclear and coal sources can be combined with energy storage to meet load demands. Attendees also learned about the variables involved in sizing a stored energy project and utility and private sector economics.
POWER-GEN 2017 will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas Nevada, December 5th-7th.
A Positive Year: 2015
YES has performed FERC Form 80 Studies for two major utilities as well as continuing our work for the Peabody Trout Creek Reservoir. YES plans to be involved in the licensing of at least two other hydroelectric projects and look forward to additional opportunities.
The YES team has been busy meeting all the needs of each of our clients, developing quality deliverables, and coming in under budget. YES has been fortunate to make quality contacts in the industry, obtaining new clients and contracts, as well as being poised to make some interesting revisions and additions in the approaching months. Stay tuned!!
A New Horizon
Renewable energy has been trending in the business world for some time now, and there is no sign of any slowing in the near future! The country as a whole, no matter what side or facet of the aisle you tend to lean towards, is beginning to see the need for alternative sources of energy to bolster our national power demand. New advancements in technology and assistance from recent legislation in Washington D.C. is helping to add to this surge towards the future. As more potential opportunities in the renewable energy sector present themselves, YES will be there to assist with the needs of our clients and streamline the processes required to push forward each project, no matter what size. An interesting aspect of this is our expertise and interest in energy storage; specifically closed-loop system hydroelectric pumped storage. Please do not hesitate to contact YES so together we can see how to expand this new horizon in renewable energy.
A Glimpse into the Future
This has been a productive year for YES and next year offers even brighter possibilities. This past year YES hasbeen involved in many cutting-edge projects that spanned the reach of renewable energies. These projects were mainly focused domestically in many states and have also taken YES staff across the globe as well.