The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected four organizations to receive nearly $8.4 million to develop technologies meant to improve grid reliability, optimize electricity infrastructure, and facilitate grid connection with renewable resources.
DOE’s Office of Electricity (OE) and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) are jointly funding these projects from DOE’s February 2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The selected projects are designed to accelerate the development of Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) that maximize electricity transmission across existing systems to lower operating costs.
Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) can increase both the capacity and efficiency of under-construction and existing transmission lines, according to a recent report from the advocacy group WATT Coalition. The report shows that GETs have complementary benefits at all stages of transmission development, ie. before, during, and after construction.
GETs include technologies such as dynamic line ratings, flexible alternative current transmission systems, and transmission topology and control.
The paper shows that before construction, GETs can reduce congestion by 40% or more, which — based on 2021 transmission congestion costs — is worth over $5 billion per year to U.S. utility customers, according to the report. GETs often pay for themselves in less than a year of operation, it adds.
During construction, outages can be avoided or ameliorated, with similar reductions in congestion costs of 40% or more. Examples in the report show that GETs can mitigate congestion at a low cost — GETs installation costs are often at around 5% or less of the estimated annual congestion costs.
After construction, utilization on new lines can increase by 16%, improving the Benefit to Cost ratio of the new lines, according to the whitepaper. Revisiting the model of SPP’s 2025 grid used in Unlocking the Queue with Grid Enhancing Technologies, The Brattle Group found that SPP’s existing network and planned high voltage elements saw higher utilization when GETs were deployed to address transmission constraints and enable renewable development.
The $8.4 million in DOE funding includes $6.8 million from OE and $1.5 million from EERE’s Wind Energy and Solar Energy Technologies Offices.
The following entities will perform research, development, and demonstrations intended to enable broad adoption of next-generation GETs tools and systems throughout the energy sector. The technologies they deploy will help optimize infrastructure in existing rights of way. They will also aim to facilitate renewable resource interconnection and market access by improving the reliability and efficiency of power transfer.
These entities, which are each receiving nearly $2.1 million, include:
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta, GA – Selected for Deployment and Demonstration of Advanced Power Flow Control (APFC) and Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) Solutions to Accelerate Renewable Interconnection and Load Electrification:
- This project will develop tools to model and optimize multiple GETs deployments and mechanisms to integrate GETs with existing systems and utility operations. If successful, this project will provide system operators and relevant stakeholders with field-validated APFC and DLR implementation models, deployment procedures, and key system infrastructure and resiliency metrics that will facilitate the integration of GETs in future business models and accelerate their deployment, thus advancing the nation’s decarbonization and energy equity goals.
- NV Energy, Las Vegas, NV – Selected for Direct and Indirect Contact DLR Technologies; Digital Twin Technologies for Increasing Transmission Capacity and Reducing Congestion Without Reconductoring:
- This project studies power line capacity to develop methods to enhance grid resilience and expand transmission capacity for renewable energy sources. The project will identify optimal locations for sensors to minimize the number needed. This information will be the foundation to keeping the lights on, lowering costs, and creating clean energy jobs for Nevadans and other communities.
- Pitch Aeronautics Inc., Boise, ID – Selected for Demonstration of Rapid Deployment of Overhead Monitoring Sensors in Combination with Weather-Based DLR System:
- This project will be the first comprehensive real-world demonstration of DLR in the western United States and has the potential to increase transmission capacity, reduce congestion costs, and facilitate the interconnection of renewable energy. This project’s impact could allow wider integration of renewable energy into the power grid and avoid substantial costs from the curtailment of power generation.
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT – Selected for DLR Robust Validation, Enhancement and Field Demonstration in New England with Changing Weather and Offshore Wind Integration:
- This project will develop grid-enhancing technologies that help integrate large amounts of electricity from offshore wind while enhancing electrical grid resilience. Specifically, it will analyze long power lines in Massachusetts using sensors to see how well these new technologies work in real life, especially with the nation’s first utility-scale 800 MW Vineyard offshore wind farm nearby.
