Another major utility is dipping its toes into the world of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs).
LineVision and NV Energy have announced a new project aimed at enhancing transmission capacity and grid reliability which involves the deployment of LineVision’s dynamic line rating (DLR) software and the installation of 29 LineVision sensors across 90 miles of transmission lines, including two 120 kV lines extending from Reno, Nevada.
The project aims to address critical points on the grid and relieve congestion in the Reno area, and was funded by a grant awarded to NV Energy by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) meant to accelerate the development of grid-enhancing technologies that maximize electricity transmission across existing systems to lower operating costs.
LineVision’s DLR software utilizes field-based sensors to capture real-time data on environmental parameters that affect the operational efficiency of the transmission lines. With real-time assessment of the transmission line’s capacity, NV Energy will aim to optimize power flow, enhance grid reliability, and meet the evolving energy demands of its customers.
“We’re proud to collaborate with NV Energy, who continue to be leaders in the industry by adopting innovative solutions to enhance grid reliability and capacity,” said Hudson Gilmer, CEO of LineVision. “NV Energy’s commitment to leveraging grid enhancing technologies like LineVision demonstrates their dedication to meeting customer energy needs efficiently and cost-effectively while maintaining a robust and resilient power supply.”
What else has LineVision been up to?
Last week, LineVision announced that it is working with Georgia Power, the largest electric utility in the state, to deploy LineVision’s DLR technology in an effort to increase grid capacity, flexibility, and reliability in Georgia. Through funding from the GRIP program, Georgia Power will deploy new grid-enhancing technologies including dynamic line rating technology and reconductoring of high voltage power lines. Improved conductor technology can be deployed on existing structures, placed in service quicker than a traditional line build, and can help maximize the amount of power that can be carried through existing transmission lines and in existing rights of way. These investments are meant to not only serve existing and new customers but also to help connect a growing amount of clean generation required to serve Georgia’s growing electricity needs.
Last Spring, LineVision announced that the largest GETs deployment was operational in the U.S., a partnership with National Grid to bring dynamic line ratings to four, 115kV transmission lines in congested Upstate New York. The region is home to a growing number of renewable energy projects critical to meeting the state’s ambitious climate goals but otherwise stuck waiting for interconnection. Using DLR technology allows National Grid to view and analyze real-time data, as opposed to manufacturing specs.
While National Grid embarks on a $4 billion upgrade to the transmission system in New York, GETs, and more specifically DLRs, present a near-term, expeditious solution to unlock additional capacity without building, or replacing, poles and wires. DLR should be seen as a supplement to other grid modernization efforts, according to LineVision CEO Hudson Gilmer, like greenfield transmission and reconductoring.
“This is the low-hanging fruit,” Gilmer said in an interview with POWERGRID International. “This is absolutely, by far, the cheapest and the fastest way to alleviate (congestion) issues.”
Watch the full interview on YouTube
New transmission infrastructure, the most expensive option, can take a decade to deploy. Reconductoring, or replacing old cables and wires with new, productive ones, can require tower upgrades that necessitate years of engineering work and additional permitting. Dynamic line rating tech can be installed in as quickly as a few months, Gilmer said.
Why use DLR?
Last November, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) passed a resolution highlighting how GETs and high-performance conductors (HPCs) save customers money and improve reliability, and encouraged Congress to appropriate more funding for programs that support their deployment.
GETs include DLR, advanced power flow control (APFC), and topology optimization (TO). These tools are intended to find capacity for new generation or new electric demand at a lower cost than traditional upgrades. DLRs determine the true, real-time capacity of power lines. APFC allows operators to move power to lines with available capacity. TO identifies the best grid reconfigurations to reroute flow around bottlenecks. Other advanced transmission technologies include HPCs, such as composite core conductors and superconductors.
In defense of its resolution, NARUC cited several recent findings and trends in the electric industry.
In its 2023 Long-Term Reliability Assessment, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) found that growth rates of forecasted peak demand and energy have risen “significantly” since the 2022 assessment, projecting peak demand for electricity to increase by 9.19% over the next ten years. Additionally, according to market monitor data from annual market reports, transmission congestion costs across the seven organized markets in the U.S. have also risen significantly over the past eight years, more than doubling since 2016.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory data also shows that there are over 2,000 GW of generation and storage projects waiting to connect to the grid, with queue times more than doubling from below two years in 2008 to over five years in 2022. The DOE’s National Transmission Needs study also found that the U.S. will need to expand its regional transmission capacity by 20-128%, and interregional capacity by 25-412% by 2035.
Additionally, last March, a handful of Democrats in Congress wrote a letter urging FERC to “take action to promote the deployment of GETs,” arguing the technology has “repeatedly” proven itself to improve grid reliability, capacity, and flexibility. In 2023, FERC included a requirement for grid planners to “evaluate” the use of GETs in transmission network upgrades through its interconnection ruling, Order 2023, without going as far as mandating their deployment.
