Innovative Approaches Introduced to Ease Connectin
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One of the first steps involved in fully eliminating fossil fuels from America’s energy mix is manufacturing and deploying green-energy infrastructure, such as solar panels and wind turbines. Although the country’s renewable-energy capacity is still dwarfed by fossil fuels, this capacity is steadily building up as more solar and wind farms are installed countrywide.
The United States is now leveraging innovative approaches to address a step that has caused energy bottlenecks in many countries: connecting renewables to the grid. Generating clean energy from solar, wind and other renewable sources is a significant milestone, but this energy is barely useful until utilities can find ways to deliver it to households and businesses without overloading the grids.
America and other nations with notable green-energy investments have seen a growing number of clean-energy projects sit idly for months and even years as they wait to connect to the grid. However, new innovative solutions may soon help the U.S. relieve the transmission provider interconnection queues that have prevented it from fully benefiting from its growing renewable energy generation and storage capacity.
A report from the April Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that the capacity currently waiting for grid connection is nearly two times the 1,280 GW that the U.S. generates. The report notes that projects launched pre-2015 generally took around 17 months to go from application to operation while recent projects take an average of five years.
System operators and transmission operators in the U.S. are now working to develop novel solutions to combat the grid-connection bottlenecks and ensure the grid can access clean energy whenever energy demand is high in response to the 2023 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order (FERC Order 2023). The order will prioritize more viable green-energy projects that meet all criteria for readiness, says LBNL energy policy researcher Joseph Rand, and use financial penalties to encourage system operators and transmission providers to step up their efforts.
Former FERC commissioner Allison Clements called the order an “important step forward” as the U.S. strives to clear up its “interconnection backlogs” but noted that all involved parties, from interconnection customers to transmission providers, should see the order as a base for further reforms rather than the ceiling.
Texas recently launched a streamlined “connect and manage” interconnection option that analysts say could be viable in the Texas energy market. Furthermore, linking the interconnection option with the SPP’s link system planning could also be instrumental in cutting queue backlogs, analysts say. California’s recently approved interconnection enhancements have already begun linking generation procurement and transmission planning with the interconnection project.
As more green energy finds its way onto grids in different locations, new energy vehicles from manufacturers such as Mullen Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) will pack an even bigger punch in terms of scaling back the surging rate of emissions fueling climate change.
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