Ed’s Note – US: Mind the (grid) gap

“There’s a reality gap between the volume of renewables policymakers would like to see on the grid and the levels the current grid can actually handle.” And it seems like the policymakers in the US are trying hard to close that gap.

WindSim Power’s CEO Donna Rennemo’s comments highlight an inconvenient, yet vitally important, disconnect between current ambitions and capacities. Part of the solution to closing that gap is by promoting robust and progressive regulation. A recent example is that of the Subcommittee on Energy of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, which held a hybrid (including both in-person and remote attendance) legislative hearing entitled, “The CLEAN Future Act and Electric Transmission: Delivering Clean Power to the People”.

The hearing covered multiple provisions for Grid Enhancing Technologies, or GETs, and among the points of interest is the fact that it encourages the deployment of transmission technologies and other measures. Those include dynamic line ratings, flow control devices, and network topology optimisation that will help increase the capacity and efficiency of existing transmission facilities and improve the operation of the facilities under the Federal Power Act Sec.