GETs can pay for themselves with transmission line savings in under one year, report says
Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) in the US can increase both the capacity and efficiency of under-construction and existing transmission lines, according to a new report. The report shows that GETs have complementary benefits at all stages of transmission development, ie. before, during and after construction.
The advocacy group WATT Coalition, in conjunction with the Brattle Group, released the whitepaper Building a Better Grid: How Grid Enhancing Technologies Complement Transmission Buildouts.
GETs include technologies such as dynamic line ratings, flexible alternative current transmission systems, and transmission topology and control.
The paper shows that before construction, GETs can reduce congestion by 40% or more, which — based on 2021 transmission congestion costs — is worth over $5 billion per year to US utility customers, according to the report. GETs often pay for themselves in less than a year of operation, it adds.
During construction, outages can be avoided or ameliorated, with similar reductions in congestion costs of 40% or more. Examples in the report show that GETs can mitigate congestion at a low cost — GETs installation costs are often at around 5% or less of the estimated annual congestion costs.
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After construction, utilisation on new lines can increase by 16%, improving the Benefit to Cost ratio of the new lines, according to the whitepaper. Revisiting the model of SPP’s 2025 grid used in Unlocking the Queue with Grid Enhancing Technologies, The Brattle Group found that SPP’s existing network and planned high voltage elements saw higher utilisation when GETs were deployed to address transmission constraints and enable renewable development.
“Insufficient transmission capacity is the primary obstacle to the energy transition,” said Julia Selker, Executive Director of the WATT Coalition.
“Grid Enhancing Technologies and new transmission lines must be deployed together to achieve the necessary system expansion at the highest speed and lowest cost.”
The Department of Energy’s Draft National Transmission Needs Study found that the rate of transmission capacity expansion must at least triple to put clean energy goals in reach. The WATT Coalition submitted comments to the DOE yesterday on the draft report and the role of GETs in increasing the pace of capacity expansion, including the findings of the Building a Better Grid whitepaper.
Originally published on Power-Grid International.
