Opportunities are emerging for solar developers to collaborate with alternative transmission technology providers on pilot and full-scale projects that help improve the grid. These opportunities are funded by both state and federal programs aimed at improving the electric grid, including distribution activities, and benefit a wide range of affected consumers, businesses, utilities, and commissions. He said he participated in a March 12 webinar hosted by state and federal officials. World Resources Institute.
This webinar, entitled “Maximizing Existing and New Infrastructure Through Advanced Transmission Technologies,” reviews several emerging grid enhancement technologies (GETs) and discusses state and federal regulations related to the technologies. trends and highlighted successful pilots and programs. I was hired. This webinar was moderated by Jenny Chen, WRI Senior Manager of Clean Energy, and developed by Ian Goldsmith, his analyst at WRI Research.
While new transmission technologies are a major focus for both state and federal regulators, the interactions between transmission and distribution systems through those technologies are also important, webinar participants agreed.
“At the state level, we've definitely been working to implement a variety of distribution-level technologies, and we can't take that lightly,” said Marissa Gillette, chair of the Connecticut Department of Utilities Regulation, one of the webinar participants. I think so,” he said.
Chen pointed out that in February 2023, the Department of Energy released a new study on power grid needs, the National Power Transmission Needs Survey. According to an analysis by law firm Perkins Coie, the study aims to “eliminate the need for large-scale transmission infrastructure through alternative solutions such as energy storage, grid-strengthening technologies, advanced conduction, and 'strategic location' of generation resources.” “We acknowledge that there is a possibility that it could be postponed or avoided.” project”.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Alison Clements, another webinar participant, emphasized that speed is a critical reason for incorporating new technologies into grid reform.
“As a technology-driven, power-driven country, we need to find ways to make easy and quick investments that will help modernize our grid in the short term, and even more in the medium and long term. “We need to work on improving our electricity grids. Investing in new regional and interregional transmission is difficult,” she summarized.
A new incubator for new technologies
Some of the alternative technologies for grid improvement highlighted in the webinar include advanced cable conductor designs, dynamic weather monitoring of line conditions, power flow controllers, high-density cable tower designs, and parallel tower lines.
One incubator for demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of new transmission technologies is Connecticut's Innovative Energy Solutions Program, which launched in early 2023.
“This program is like a regulatory sandbox that provides different pathways to come up with ideas,” Gillette explained.
“This program seeks to take lessons learned from Silicon Valley and model it on a ‘fail fast approach. [Fail fast is the principle of freely experimenting and learning while trying to reach the desired result.] So we're starting with a Shark Tank event where we solicit ideas from utilities, or utilities paired with developers, or developers alone. We award up to $5 million per project. [up to a combined] At $25 million per cycle, it will take 18 months to demonstrate viability and scalability,” Gillette said.
learn from your neighbors
Part of the challenge in implementing new grid technology is avoiding reinventing the wheel by cautious state regulators, Gillette said.
“State regulators and various local authorities often want to pilot something, even if it's proven in another field. For proponents of new technology, it's very I think it's frustrating, she said.
One way state regulators can easily assess the value of pilot projects in other states is by leveraging a wealth of data, said Gilbert Bindewald, principal deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity (DOE). Point out.
DOE is working with the Idaho National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop new grid technology analysis tools that will measure pilot data and allow comparisons between technologies, Bindewald said.
The aim of this study is to “enable data to be obtained showing both performance characteristics over a lifetime and the costs and benefits that may be incurred.” [from a given technology solution] And then you can share them with decision makers. This allows us to weigh the different technology options out there against each other,” says Bindewald.
“In the end, all this [regulatory or utility] When making decisions, you benefit from having access to accurate and robust data sets. It's about creating data that others can use and learn from so they can understand what their impact is. [across] It’s their region,” Bindewald explained.
Technology comparison software like this can help you compare the returns on new investments in grid reinforcement.
“Building a new transmission line may cost about $2 million per mile and requires the use of advanced conductors. [in place of a traditional power line conductor] It could be a lot cheaper than starting everything over again,” Bindewald said.
Participants agreed that reshaping state and federal incentives for utilities and rewarding innovation in the adoption of new transmission technologies remains a major challenge in the area of grid reform.
At FERC, “we have the authority to incentivize advanced technology, and performance-based incentives are being considered,” Clements said. “We haven't [yet] “We've made a lot of progress in terms of grid strengthening technology, but we've also received proposals from advanced technology provider coalitions and some industry groups to 'come up with common savings mechanisms,'” she added. .
Charles W. Thurston is a contributor to solar power supplier.
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