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DOE releases new transmission interconnection roadmap to address clean energy backlog

Transmission lines near Los Angeles, California (Courtesy: Robert Thiemann/Unsplash)

The Department of Energy (DOE) has released a new plan to solve the backlog of clean energy projects waiting to connect to the grid. This plan is called the Transmission Interconnection Roadmap and was created by DOE’s Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X). It aims to improve how clean energy projects connect to the grid by 2030.

The roadmap suggests several solutions:

  1. Improving the quality and accessibility of data on projects waiting to connect to the grid.
  2. Creating new options to speed up the interconnection process for clean energy projects.
  3. Adopting a unified set of rules for connecting clean energy projects to the grid.
  4. Exploring ways to separate the interconnection process from network upgrades to make costs clearer upfront.

The roadmap outlines 35 solutions focused on increasing data access, improving the interconnection process, boosting economic efficiency, and ensuring grid reliability.

DOE has set specific goals to achieve by 2030:

  1. Reduce the time from requesting to agreeing on an interconnection for completed projects to less than 12 months.
  2. Limit the cost variation for interconnection projects to less than $150 per kilowatt.
  3. Increase the completion rate of projects entering the facility study phase to over 70%.
  4. Prevent unexpected grid disturbances due to inaccurate models.

The roadmap is a guide for various stakeholders like transmission providers, state and federal agencies, regulators, and energy organizations. Its aim is to streamline the process and ensure a reliable and efficient grid for clean energy projects.

In the past ten years, there has been a huge increase in requests, going up to 2,500–3,000 each year—a jump of 300-500%. This backlog of requests can make it take a long time for clean energy projects to get started and can make the costs higher for the people building the projects and for the people who use electricity.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm says it's really important to get through the backlog of about 12,000 solar, wind, and storage projects waiting to connect to the power grid. This will help more Americans get clean electricity. The Biden-Harris Administration is trying to speed up the process through the i2X program. They want to make sure everyone involved has better access to information and that there are better rules and ways of doing things. They hope this will make the power grid more efficient, reliable, and clean.

A recent report from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory shows that nearly 2,600 GW of power generation and storage are waiting to connect to the grid. That's eight times more than in 2014. Because there are so many projects and not enough good ways to connect them to the grid, it's causing problems like not knowing what will happen next, delays, unfairness, and extra costs for the people building the projects, the people who use electricity, the companies that make electricity, and the people who decide on the rules.

The Department of Energy has many jobs in making the solutions in the roadmap happen. They need to help people start using the solutions, give them money and help with the technical stuff, and support the people doing research. The Grid Deployment Office at DOE is spending $5 billion on the Grid Innovation Program to help get clean energy connected to the grid faster. This money supports projects that make the grid stronger and more reliable. The Solar Energy Technologies Office and the Wind Energy Technologies Office are offering $10 million to help make tools and ways of doing things that will speed up connections. They're also going to have some meetings where people can talk about making the rules for connections better.

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