WOBURN, MA —On Wednesday, Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Katherine Clark (D-MA-5) visited VEIR, an early-stage clean energy technology company in her district. VEIR is focused on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and combating global climate change by providing high efficiency, high-capacity electric transmission lines. VEIR is poised at the front end of modernizing the electric grid in order for it to meet increased electrification of our economy and enable the delivery of more renewable energy.
Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark met with VEIR’s CEO Adam Wallen, CTO Tim Heidel, Board Member Katie Rae, CEO and Managing Partner of The Engine, a Cambridge based venture capital company that is an early investor, and company employees as she toured VEIR’s 11,000 square foot laboratory space in Woburn, where the company is creating and testing prototypes of its technology.
“VEIR is an incredible example of what the Inflation Reduction will do in Massachusetts and across the nation,” said Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark. “We are investing in companies that are helping to create cleaner, more efficient energy sources for the future, which means more jobs for hardworking Americans and lower costs for consumers. This is how we will save the planet and strengthen our economy. Simply put, it’s a game-changer.”
In Spring of 2022, VEIR was awarded $2.9 million in federal research funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center provided an additional $300,000 from its AmplifyMass program to support the federal research money. The ARPA-E funding will enable VEIR to study the cost-effective transfer of bulk electric power at a single voltage using high temperature superconducting (HTS) overhead and underground power lines.
As a Member of the Appropriations Committee, Assistant Speaker Clark is a strong advocate of the ARPA-E program, ensuring that the federal government is routinely investing in clean energy research and technology development that will lead us to a stronger, more sustainable future. The new Inflation Reduction Act law doubles down on the annual ARPA-E investments by providing $385 billion in clean energy production and addressing the climate crisis over the next 10 years.
VEIR is developing the next generation of superconducting transmission lines with the ability to move 5 to 10 times the amount of power as conventional transmission lines now in use. VEIR transmission lines can move very large volumes of power (500 to 1,000 MW) within narrow rights of way and on shorter towers than conventional lines. The smaller environmental footprint and less visually intrusive towers will ease the permitting process that has slowed the installation of new lines needed to move larger volumes of renewable energy. By making better use of existing rights of way VEIR will accelerate the role of transmission in helping to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals.