As the need for transmission capacity grows, EPRI launches a new effort to evaluate the performance of grid-enhancing technologies.
America needs a lot more transmission grid capacity. That was the basic finding in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Transmission Needs Study released last year. There are many reasons why an expansion of transmission grid capacity is a priority, including the system’s role in providing reliable and resilient electricity as demand grows and extreme weather increases in frequency and severity.
Abundant transmission system capacity is also integral to the clean energy transition. For example, the DOE study found that the U.S. must double its current regional transmission capacity and increase interregional transmission capacity over five-fold to reach the federal government’s goal of a carbon-free power system by 2035. Princeton University estimates that 75,000 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines—enough to stretch around the world three times—need to be built to reach that 2035 goal.
While there is widespread agreement and increasing levels of incentives and investments to support critical new transmission system infrastructure, the reality is that these projects take many years to get approved, permitted, designed, and built. As the essential work of developing, financing, and building new projects moves forward, however, the need for more transmission grid capacity grows by the day.
The pressing imperative to expand transmission grid capacity quickly has focused attention on grid-enhancing technologies (GETs). GETs are hardware and software that can improve the efficiency, reliability, capacity, and safety of existing transmission lines. GETs are seen as a potentially powerful tool to reduce congestion and speed the integration of renewable generation.
In its Transmission Needs Study, the DOE highlights GETs and describes them as, “solutions capable of managing transmission congestion and increasing line utilization rates by expanding existing transmission system capacity and improving operational efficiencies.” The DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program is making significant investments in technologies, including GETs, that can bolster the flexibility and reliability of the existing grid.
A Known Unknown
While the potential role of GETs in supporting the transition to a decarbonized and reliable electric power system is widely accepted, the utilities and grid operators that would deploy them have limited experience installing and operating them. This raises a challenge for utilities that want to quickly leverage the benefits of GETs but don’t have the time or resources to vet them alone. Closing the gap between the potential GETs have to augment transmission grid capacity and providing confidence that they will operate as expected is the main mission of EPRI’s Grid Enhancing Technologies for a Smart Energy Transition (GET SET) initiative.
Launched in July of 2024, GET SET builds on years of research EPRI has devoted to GETs to help utilities understand and be comfortable that the hardware and software will perform reliably. “EPRI has been doing research about grid enhancing technologies for over a decade. The reason that we wanted to have an initiative now is because the technology has advanced to a level where that transition from pilot to deployment stage is happening now,” said Anna Lafoyiannis, an EPRI deputy program manager whose work focuses on operations and planning research.
GET SET is driven both by a sense of urgency and practicality. “The idea is that we can put in substantial and focused work that looks at all the technologies in a collaborative way,” Lafoyiannis said. “And that will allow utilities to use the findings immediately.”
A Focus on Four GETs
Gaining Confidence with GETs
Though these four GETs have meaningful potential to improve transmission grid capacity, utilities need confidence about their performance, benefits, and impacts as they are deploying them. The GET SET initiative has already produced high-level executive summaries about each of the GETs (which are linked above in the technology descriptions) to raise awareness and understanding; more detailed white papers, case studies, and regular workshops and user groups will also share lessons learned and experiences.
GET SET will also include lab testing and the collation of results from field implementations that will inform the development of everything from frameworks for effective GETs deployments to a quantification of the value they can deliver in local operating conditions.
“We want to take the participants in GET SET on a journey. We are going to begin with several deliverables related to understanding the reliability and uncertainty of these technologies by doing laboratory testing and then sharing overall results so people know what they can expect from a specific class of technology,” said Alberto Del Rosso, an EPRI senior manager who oversees grid modernization research and development (R&D) projects. “Then we will be providing a framework and guidance about planning and the best way to operate them from a system perspective.”
There have been numerous studies assessing how GETs can improve transmission grid capacity. But what past analysis has lacked is a local focus that makes findings immediately relevant and practical for utilities. “Saying GETs provide benefits across North America doesn’t provide meaning for someone that needs to do the work,” Lafoyiannis said. “Being able to quantify benefits and impacts at a more regional level, or even at a utility level, is helpful because electric conditions and environmental conditions can vary. And an assessment should also include practical considerations, like deployment timelines, permitting considerations, and supply chain, to fully prepare for the future.”
The Role of EPRI Laboratories
Besides EPRI’s long history researching GETs, new investments in the capabilities of EPRI Laboratories in Lenox, Massachusetts, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Knoxville, Tennessee, will help utilities get comfortable with the technologies before they’re deployed. “When GETs really emerged as a priority about a year ago, industry stakeholders came to EPRI because we’ve been doing testing on advanced conductors for more than a decade,” said Drew McGuire, director of transmission and substations R&D at EPRI. “So, when the industry needed to understand advanced conductors, we could raise our hand and say we’ve already done it. Here are the test results. We aren’t just responding quickly; we are ahead.”
For example, in Lenox, Massachusetts, EPRI has commissioned a DLR test facility that includes a new outdoor 625-foot three-phase test span where the current flowing through individual conductors can be controlled, and a wide range of loading conditions can be simulated and monitored. This new test span adds to EPRI’s DLR research capabilities, which presently includes thirteen one-to-two-year-long field demonstrations building on dozens that have been ongoing since the 1990s.
Another example: EPRI’s Charlotte lab includes a conductor test rig, where conductor-connector systems undergo intense thermal and mechanical stresses, including mechanical loads of 30,000 pounds and temperatures up to 250° Celsius. The GET SET project will also include real-world, fully monitored deployments of technologies with member utilities, including carbon core conductors in the Northwestern U.S. to better understand how resilient they are to icing.
With all the testing, the goal is to first assess categories of GETs rather than the features and performance of individual technologies. “While we will bring out technology providers and do individual tests for them, what we hear from decision makers is before they’re even selecting individual technologies, they want to know as a class how DLR, advanced power flow controllers, or advanced conductors perform,” Del Rosso said. “They want to know what to expect so they can use the information to evaluate it against other technologies and solutions.”
While GET SET will last for three years, the project will regularly share results from its testing and research. Even before the initiative officially launched, Lafoyiannis was reminded of the thirst for knowledge about GETs when EPRI gathered over 200 participants for a workshop about the state of the science of the four technologies. “We had participants from over 75 utilities. We had technology providers, NERC, and other companies and developers in the room,” Lafoyiannis said. “There’s broad interest.” And the audience was all saying there’s a strong need for new capacity, and they need to connect new loads and generators on short notice. That’s where we can help.”
EPRI Technical Expert:
Anna Lafoyiannis
For more information, contact techexpert@eprijournal.com.
