Additionally, bringing cheaper clean energy resources online has the potential to significantly reduce costs passed on to utility customers. PJM Improve communities by reducing grid congestion that increases wholesale energy prices and by making lower-cost clean energy available in wholesale energy markets. Although it is not normal, ““Part of the power grid interconnection research” RMI I modeled this effect to more fully illustrate “What do you get with GET?'' Siegner said.
The analysis found that adding clean energy and reducing congestion would reduce domestic energy production costs. PJM Gain territory by just under $1 billion 2027 increased by more than $1 Annual savings of 1 billion yen 2030cumulatively $7 It will reach $1 billion in the next six years.Compared to the cost of only $100 $1 million is required to deploy the GET combinations covered in the report.
Finally, adding clean energy more quickly can reduce the impact of carbon emissions. PJMdepending on the generation mix of 3.Five percent 2027, 2.9 percent 2030 and 2.6 percent 2033says the report. That's because cheaper solar and wind power is more likely to be chosen over more expensive coal and fossil gas-fired power, as the following graph of a typical day shows.
How GET can help solve America's interconnection problems
Find ways to bring new clean energy resources to the planet PJM Faster power grids could help solve many problems for grid operators, problems shared by their peers across the country.
For one thing, PJMhas reached such a severe backlog that we have paused new interconnect applications until the next deadline. 2026 We are working on process innovation.There's more than half left 2,500 Currently, projects exploring interconnection are in limbo. The delay puts many states in the territory at risk of not meeting their clean energy goals for the rest of the decade, according to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The inability to bring more clean energy resources online coincides with growing reliability challenges. PJMstrengthened power grids could make it harder to shut down power plants that cause losses and pollute the environment. Late last year, the grid operator asked Talen Energy, the owner of a fossil fuel power plant complex in Maryland, to delay the plant's closure beyond 2018. 2025 Until the new transmission line is completed 2028 to avoid “During that time, grid reliability declined.
PJM This is not the only region facing years of waiting times for solar, wind and battery storage projects and increasingly expensive grid upgrade costs. The entire U.S. order backlog is 2,000 At the end of last year, they amounted to gigawatts, and while many of these projects are unlikely to be built, their sheer volume is overwhelming grid operators across the country.
Strengthening the power grid using GET could potentially alleviate grid problems across the country. However, GET is only just beginning to be implemented in the United States, and at this point, the broad benefits of GET exist only in reports and computer models.
From computer modeling to real-world deployment: next steps for GET
That could change under a new federal order. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a major interconnection order last year, directing grid operators to: PJM start considering “Alternative transmission technologies, including some GET's, have been incorporated into the interconnection review process. The country's electric grid operator, which manages the electric grid that supplies electricity to about two-thirds of the U.S. population, is in the midst of developing a compliance plan.
FERC In the coming months, we will issue another directive on a long-term transmission plan that may also include GET in some form. However, the timeline for grid operators to submit compliance plans is FERC It can take more than a year for orders and plans to be evaluated and approved before implementation.
In the meantime, many U.S. utilities and transmission operators have implemented some form of GET. PJM region.Pennsylvania-based utility company Duquesne Light and PPL The companies are deploying dynamic line rating technology from vendors LineVision and Ampacimon, respectively, to better manage power flow on congested power lines.Midwest grid operator miso and SPP Vendors have been using topology optimization and grid analysis software from vendors NewGrid and Pearl Street Technologies to inform interconnection, grid planning, and congestion mitigation studies.
Some projects are funded from $3.Five A $1 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Energy also includes GET. Duquesne Light wins grant to expand deployment of dynamic transmission line ratings, and utility holding company Algonquin Power wins grant to deploy advanced power flow control in Illinois and Texas. did.
But to date, U.S. utilities have primarily tested GET rather than integrating the technology into larger plans.That's true if AES Corp. is a utility holding company that is testing dynamic line rating technology on power lines in Indiana and Ohio.
The difference in current experience is ““The way we model the capabilities of these technologies and quantify their benefits remains a barrier to their widespread use,” said Alexina Jackson, vice president of strategic development at the company, accompanying the RMI-Quanta report. said in a statement.The type of analysis shown in that report “Start breaking down those barriers and encourage your stakeholders to realize the benefits. ”
There are other barriers for utilities to implement GET. It's an incentive that utilities should prioritize more costly and capital-intensive projects that earn higher rates of return.a 2022 A Department of Energy report found that New York state utilities could repay the cost of implementing GET within five years. This is much faster than traditional power grid upgrades. But it also noted that “GETs often offer a lower cost of capital alternative to traditional investments such as new power lines, which means lower overall returns for investors.” .
Meanwhile, developers of clean energy projects have started using GET software as a tool to locate less congested power grid locations in order to explore interconnections, and to pay for the power grid they will have to pay if the connection is allowed. We are starting to estimate the upgrade cost. ““Developers now know that it's largely their responsibility to suggest GETs when it makes sense for their project,” says Siegner.
in fact, RMI were able to identify only one actual interconnection study in which GET was actively approved by utilities and grid operators. This included a wind power project in Illinois that was successfully petitioned. PJM Power company Commonwealth Edison allows vendor Smart Wires to use its advanced power flow control system, allowing it to avoid paying about $100100 $1 million for system upgrades.
This brought the interconnect cost down to $10012 Timeline from 1 million and 3 years to 1 million 15 A few months — it made “It's the difference between getting that project completed or being taken off the queue,” Signer said.
