LineVision announced this week that it closed on its Series B financing round, raising $12.5 Million. The round was led by UP Partners, a Los Angeles-based electrification and mobility fund. Other new investors include National Grid Partners, the venture investment and innovation arm of the utility with the same name, and ZOMA Capital, a Colorado-based family office specializing in grid modernization technologies. These new investors join existing LineVision backers including Clean Energy Ventures.
LineVision’s V3 sensors collect real-time data on overhead power lines including line temperature, sag, horizontal motion, and anomalies. Studies have shown congestion on transmission lines costs US consumers more than $8 billion annually. A recent study by The Brattle Group showed that Dynamic Line Ratings (DLR) could help double integration of renewables on the existing grid.
National Grid is currently using LineVision’s V3 platform to assess conductor asset health, obtain greater situational awareness, and increase transmission line capacity with DLR. The utility first deployed the DLR sensors in 2018 on transmission lines in Massachusetts, and in 2020 installed LineVision’s asset health monitors on lines in New York.
Related: It’s time to use accurate line ratings
“LineVision is harnessing advanced sensors and analytics to solve one of the most critical obstacles to the energy transition,” said Adam Grosser, Chairperson of UP Partners. “There is simply no way we will achieve the urgent goals of electrification and decarbonization without widespread deployment of technologies like LineVision to unlock more capacity and flexibility from the existing grid.”
“National Grid has long been dedicated to deploying technologies that enable us to optimize the performance and reliability of our network,” said Rudy Wynter, President of National Grid, New York. “Technologies like LineVision’s V3 systems help us better understand the condition of our assets while enabling us to meet the goals of our Net Zero by 2050 plan. We see investment in grid-enhancing technologies like LineVision as strategically important to our efforts to modernize the grid and integrate more renewables.”
LineVision has secured deals with National Grid, Dominion Energy, Xcel Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, and several other North American utilities yet to be announced. The company also works with multiple European utilities through the Farcross Project, which aims to improve cross-border interconnections by utilizing Dynamic Line Ratings.
