U.S. electricity deployment is falling behind the pace necessary to meet projected demand growth—posing risks for the United States’ ability to meet its clean energy deployment goals and raising costs for ratepayers. Read more

As part of the GET SET program, EPRI has published fact sheets on the leading GETs solutions including Advanced Power Flow Control (APFC). EPRI defines APFC technologies as power electronic-based devices that can actively change the way power flows through the transmission system without making changes to generator dispatch or the topology of the network. These devices can divert power flow from congested lines to other circuits with spare capacity, making more efficient use of the transmission assets. To catalyze broad deployment, it is essential to increase transmission planners’ and engineers’ understanding of the technology capabilities through a comprehensive characterization of the performance, benefits, deployment, and operational considerations, and by providing tools and processes to utilities to plan, acquire, install, operate, and maintain these devices. Read more

A first of its kind study at a European level, this report looks at the potential impact that deploying innovative grid technologies (IGTs) can have in helping Europe achieve its decarbonisation goals. It clearly lays out the case for greater use of IGTs in addition to building out more infrastructure, in order to deliver more grid capacity at a faster pace, and provides recommendations on how to accelerate their uptake in Europe. Read more.

The Liftoff report is focused on identifying pathways to accelerate the near-term (3-5 years) deployment of key commercially available but underutilized advanced grid technologies and applications on existing rights-of-way transmission and distribution systems. Read more.

In this analysis, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) assesses the potential for grid enhancing technologies (GETs) to facilitate the cost-effective, timely interconnection of new generation across five states within the PJM region: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Working with regional power flow cases and PJM’s interconnection study criteria, RMI analyzed the viability of GETs as network upgrades for queued projects in those five states. Additionally, RMI ran a PJM-wide economic dispatch model to evaluate the impacts of these technologies and the queued generation they enable to interconnect. Read more. 

Historically, the challenges for introducing new technologies included the limited bandwidth of DSO company skills and resources, standards and specifications, the challenges with the existing regulation and business models, along with the need for certainty in roles and responsibilities. This guide by leading industry association, currENT Europe, provides a series of recommendations to Distribution System Operators to support the more efficient, simplified deployment of a range of innovative grid technologies. Read more.

In this engineering study, Smart Wires will work with their partners Right Analytics , and the New York Power Authority (NYPA), to evaluate the ability for a modular power flow control technology to reduce the curtailment of wind-powered(MPFC) generation and to enable further integration of wind resources throughout New York State. Read more

This report was prepared for the WATT (Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies) Coalition with support from GridLab, EDF Renewables North America, NextEra Energy Resources, and Duke Energy Renewables. Read more

Long-distance transmission of electrical energy has increased significantly over the past decades and is expected to increase further. This development is driven by the rising electricity demand of electrifying the sectors heating, cooling and transport as well as the rapidly growing share of renewable energy power generation, which is often installed at long distances from load centers. Read more

A modern grid requires modern infrastructure, including new devices enabled by digital technology or simply new paths for electricity to flow. Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) maximize the transmission of electricity across the existing system through a family of technologies that include sensors, power flow control devices, and analytical tools. Read more

The U.S. energy industry is going through a massive transition, partially driven by decarbonization initiatives that significantly increase renewable generation resources. The preferred locations for many of these new resources are often in remote areas far from consumption. The emergence of clusters of these remote resources inevitably leads to the need for more transmission. Read more