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GRID RELIABILITY
3. Deployment of renewable energy across the U.S. has been slowed by issues with integrating
wind, solar, and other clean energy resources to the power grid. Courtesy: Shutterstock
The upgrades include replacing existing
infrastructure with thicker, stronger
wires and poles that can carry more
electricity and provide more resiliency
in storms. The work also includes upgrading
fuses, and installing additional
devices and reclosers that allow power
to be rerouted to adjacent lines when an
outage occurs, minimizing the number
of impacted customers.
Several projects are underway or
planned to build new high-capacity
transmission lines to facilitate power
transfer across long distances, often
to move renewable energy resources
from remote, rural areas to the grid.
Advanced conductor materials are being
used to reduce transmission losses.
Smart grid tech is being deployed for
dynamic load management, and battery
storage is being installed along the grid
(often at substations) to help with grid
flexibility and balancing.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
last year awarded $2.2 billion to eight
electric transmission and microgrid
projects across 18 states, with a goal of
adding electricity delivery capacity and
strengthening the grid against extreme
weather. Jennifer Granholm, the Energy
Secretary during the Biden administration,
at the time said the money was
part of a program to add 1,000 miles
of transmission lines and 50,000 MW
of electricity to the grid. Granholm at
the time said, " and there's much more
to come, " although it's not known how
the Trump administration will approach
funding for electricity transmission and
distribution (T&D).
The DOE said $700 million would go
to the North Plains Connector project,
a high-voltage direct-current power line
that would create the first large-scale
12
grid connection between the Eastern
and Western
interconnections,
the
U.S. grid systems divided by the Rocky
Mountains. Minnesota-based Allete Inc.
and transmission builder Grid United are
developing the project.
The Utah Office of Energy Development
was awarded nearly $250 million to
install 250 miles of advanced conductor
cables, increasing line capacity to support
delivery of 500 MW of renewable
energy (Figure 3) across six states.
Another grant, for $30 million, was
made to the New York Power Authority
for its Clean Path New York project. That
strategy is designed to deliver 1,300
MW of renewable energy from upstate
and western New York to New York City,
which the DOE said would help reduce
reliance on coal- and natural gas-fired
power generation.
Handling Increased Demand for
Electricity
Technology innovations to improve power
generation, transmission, and distribution
have brought more complexity into
power networks. That means utilities
and grid operators are rethinking some
of their earlier practices to adapt to a
changing energy landscape.
Jon M. Williams, CEO of Viridi, a battery
energy storage company, said,
" The energy system is on the brink of
a paradigm shift that will profoundly reshape
energy transmission and distribution.
After decades of relatively stable
demand [no load growth], the grid must
now manage an enormous demand increase
resulting from industrial onshoring,
the growth of data centers and AI,
and, perhaps most significantly, the
electrification of heat and transportation.
Complexity has also been added
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as distributed generation resources, like
rooftop solar, complicate system management.
These antiquated 19th-century
grids are decentralizing, and the transition
must be accommodated. "
Williams told POWER: " The solution
to this challenge will not be to redesign
and rebuild the grid of the 19th
century. Instead, we must use new
advances that prioritize safety, reliability,
and enhancing system level efficiencies
while focusing investments
on technologies that provide layers of
benefit. There is no greater technology
to benefit power grids as we electrify
everything than intelligently managed
distributed energy storage. Distributed
storage can enhance the value and
operability of on-site generation. With
advanced connectivity, it can be leveraged
as a 'virtual power plant [VPP]'
to better enable host facility loads for
grid support through constraints and
failures in real time.
" Behind-the-meter distributed energy
storage has the potential to improve resilience,
support decarbonization, shave
peaks, enhance value of behind-themeter
generating assets, enable utilities
to pursue beneficial 'non-wires' alternatives,
and avoid the massive costs that a
replacement of the old grid would entail, "
said Williams.
Utilities have developed programs
to support a reliable power supply. The
American
Public
Power
Association
(APPA) has a Reliable Public Power Provider,
or RP3, program " that recognizes
utilities that demonstrate high proficiency
in reliability, safety, workforce development,
and system improvement. " The
group's list includes utilities, both large
and small, from across the U.S.
Said Young, " Real-world examples
show the benefits: Florida Power &
Light's 'Storm Secure' program-undergrounding
power lines and deployment
of smart grid-has reduced outage durations
after a hurricane like Irma. Similarly,
Pacific Gas & Electric is now using
AI to predict the risks of wildfires by
analyzing weather, vegetation, and grid
conditions in order to take action before
disaster strikes.
" This brings, in short, today's enhancements
in reliability toward the goal
of making the grid smarter and more
resilient as AI and other power-hungry
needs increase the demand for energy.
Advanced software, durable hardware,
and data-driven systems are revolutionizing
how we manage and distribute electricity
for future needs, " he said.
POWER | February 2025

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