How advanced conductors solve four key grid challenges

As transmission becomes increasingly central to a successful energy transition, advanced conductors may just prove the standout solution to the state and trajectory of Europe’s grids, writes Jason Huang of TS Conductor.

Earlier this year, Ireland’s climate and energy minister declared “there’s no transition without transmission.” In the same month, EU-focused energy think tank Ember released a new report and analysis, Putting the mission in transmission: Grids for Europe’s energy transition.

Clearly, wires are becoming increasingly central to EU countries’ and grid operators’ energy transition goals and challenges. But which conductors they use for those wires can have major implications.

One standout solution to the current state and fragile trajectory of European grids is advanced conductors. Engineered using advanced materials and technologies, these conductors offer an innovative approach to enhancing the efficiency and capacity of power transmission lines.

Evolving from HTLS to modern advanced conductors

In recent years, some EU utilities and grid operators have deployed High Temperature Low Sag (HTLS) conductors, a type of advanced conductor.

According to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), HTLS conductors carry higher power compared to conventional conductors. HTLS conductors were tested in Ragow, Germany, in a 2017 project focused on improving and repowering existing power lines. Since then, these conductors have been used in Ireland for updating lines as part of their 2017–2022 Grid Implementation Plan For the Electricity Transmission System, and in December 2022, HTLS conductors were used to reinforce the high-voltage interconnection between Avelin, France and Avelgem, Belgium.

More recently, a new generation of advanced conductors has emerged, offering superior performance to early HTLS designs. Modern advanced conductors address the limitations of HTLS conductors — boasting greater capacity and lower line losses, with greater strength and less sag… and without the need to “run hot,” a key limitation of earlier HTLS designs.

In fact, a report by energy giant Enel’s Italy and Spain divisions asserts that modern advanced conductors are the best solution for reconductoring and new installations compared to legacy conductors. The EU is currently faced with four major grid challenges, and modern advanced conductors offer a promising solution to them all.

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Modernising the EU’s ageing grid to support reliability

A warning from Eurelectric, the European electricity body, underscores the urgent need for upgrades to Europe’s ageing electricity grid: more than half of Europe’s distribution grids could be older than 40 years by 2030 — putting them dangerously close to the end of their lifespan.

These ageing grids are not only inefficient but also incapable of supporting modern day energy demands. Lengthy permitting and construction processes exacerbate the challenge, as the International Energy Agency (IEA) notes they can take between five and fifteen years, more than two times longer than the time required to build renewable energy installations.

What’s more, the European Union’s ambitious REPowerEU Plan necessitates updated grids and strengthened energy infrastructure. The plan aims to eliminate imports of Russian fossil fuels and achieve a renewable energy share of 45% by 2030.

Luckily, as many modern advanced conductors are also applicable for both new build projects and reconductoring — the latter of which is a game changer — they can also enable the reuse of existing rights of way. Select kinds, such as aluminium encapsulated carbon core (AECC) conductors, can be installed with familiar tools and techniques for line crews as well, further simplifying an otherwise complex construction process.

Interconnecting and absorbing renewable energy generation

Europe’s ambition to significantly scale up its renewable energy capacity faces a critical challenge as it looks to effectively interconnect these new sources. Between 2021 and 2030, the European Union plans to triple its wind and solar capacity to about 780 gigawatts (GW) and 370 GW, respectively. The expansion is expected to add approximately 730 terawatt-hours (TWh) of generation, equivalent to the combined electricity consumption of the UK, Italy, and Spain in 2021.

The shift towards renewable energy means that wind and solar power will contribute approximately 55% of the EU’s generation mix by 2030, a substantial increase from 20% in 2021, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights’ forecast. This monumental growth is essential to transition to a greener energy mix and reduce emissions, but it cannot be realized without overcoming significant grid interconnection hurdles.

These projections hinge on the grid’s ability to absorb and distribute the new influx of renewable energy. Current grid infrastructure is not equipped to handle this surge, meaning significant upgrades and expansions are needed to achieve the capacity for new renewables generation.

For example, another major risk associated with the current state of EU transmission infrastructure is input curtailment. As renewable generation grows, traditional rules of physics still apply — we’ll have to balance supply and demand in real time. If newly interconnected renewable generation (supply) and Europe’s cities, people, and industries (demand) are stuck on opposite sides of grid transmission congestion, we’ll be faced with input curtailment, throwing away perfectly good clean electricity because it can’t be delivered to where it’s needed. Modern advanced conductors keep the electron highways open and flowing, to mitigate this problem.

Interconnecting new renewable projects with existing European power grids is currently a slow and challenging process. Apart from lengthy permitting procedures, utilities face complex construction requirements which cause grid capacity enhancements to lag behind the rapid deployment of renewable energy sources. As a result of this bottleneck, Europe is at risk of missing its critical energy transition and emissions reduction goals.

Modern advanced conductors allow for low-cost renewable energy grid integration by tripling the ampacity of existing lines merely by reconductoring. In this way, they combat interconnection bottlenecks, creating grid capacity for existing green electrons waiting in the queue, and enabling the efficient integration of new renewable energy projects needed to reach net-zero goals.

Meeting projected demand growth

Simultaneously, Europe is poised to enter a new era of rising electricity demand for the first time since the 2000s. According to independent energy think tank Ember, electricity demand in 2024 could increase by around 2-3% compared to 2023, driven by easing price levels, economic growth, lower inflation, a colder start to the year, and accelerating electrification. This marks the beginning of a sustained upward trajectory in electricity consumption, as the European Commission (EC) predicts that EU electricity consumption could increase by 60% by 2030 due to the widespread adoption of clean electrification.

A significant driver of this rising demand is the EU’s climate goals, which include plans to dramatically increase the number of heat pumps installed, from 20 million to up to 60 million by 2030. Additional moves to electrify transport will place unprecedented demands on the electricity grid. The current pace of grid development is insufficient to meet this growing demand, risking potential shortages and inefficiencies in energy distribution.

Modern advanced conductors provide greater capacity and reduced line losses — or the loss of electricity as it travels through transmission and distribution lines. They do so by utilizing materials with lower electrical resistance and improved thermal properties. This reduction in losses means that more of the generated electricity — including energy from renewables — reaches consumers, enhancing overall grid efficiency. In this way, modern advanced conductors minimize costs, reduce the need for additional power generation, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity production.

Expanding cross-border Tx capacity

Europe’s grids face another pressing challenge: the need to double cross-border transmission capacity by 2030. Currently, the EC projects that cross-border transmission capacity will increase by 23 GW by 2025, up from a current level of 93 GW. An additional 64 GW will be required by 2030 to keep pace with the demands of renewable energy growth and ensure efficient energy distribution across the continent.

In fact, the inefficiency of the current system is evident in the frequent congestion of transmission lines connecting neighbouring countries. This congestion results in disparate electricity prices across different markets. According to Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, there’s been a significant increase in country-to-country electricity price differentials since 2021.

This not only leads to higher generation costs and increased emissions, but also hinders the effective deployment of new renewable generation. For instance, a country with cheaper and cleaner generation units might not be able to export enough power due to insufficient transmission capacity, while a neighboring country might rely on more

expensive and polluting units to meet its energy demand. The fact that Europe has already seen significant disparities in country-to-country electricity price differentials indicates that the continent currently has way too little cross-border transmission capacity.

Maximizing transmission capacity with the current infrastructure and setting strong incentives for the build-out of additional power lines are essential steps toward a cost-efficient net-zero transition.

In reconductoring and new builds, modern advanced conductors offer less sag – a characteristic which allows transmission towers to be shorter and spaced further apart. In the context of expanding cross-border transmission capacity, this means fewer materials and towers are needed to carry energy from country to country. The latter translates into shorter construction timelines, fewer materials needed, decreased CapEx, and minimal environmental impact.

Next steps forward for European grids

EU’s ageing power grids need modern wires. This notion is not lost on European energy giants: an Enel spokesperson affirmed that EU distribution grids must be “ready to manage a much more complex scenario“. The Italian-owned utility asserts that distribution grids are the “primary and most effective lever to enable the energy transition,” which is why they plan to invest 18.6 billion euros in distribution grids in 2024–2026, equivalent to 53% of total investment.

It’s clear that EU power grids need an upgrade, and advanced conductors offer the most efficient, low-cost, and sustainable solution to level-up.

About the author
Jason Huang is the founder and CEO of TS Conductor, a US-based tech company providing advanced solutions for both reconductoring and new line builds.