To meet the nation’s continually evolving power needs, additional transmission must be planned for now and built as soon as possible to ensure both the resilience of the United States electrical grid and to meet 2030 clean energy targets – this is one of the conclusions of a newly released report looking into renewables integration and power transmission resilience issues.
Prepared by a management consulting firm, the report looks at the energy needs in specific regions of the U.S. and how transmission can and should play a role in addressing those needs, which include cybersecurity threats and natural events, such as superstorms, hurricanes, bomb cyclones, extreme cold snaps, and wildfires.
According to the report, there will be a need for more than 600 terawatt hours (TWh) to 714 TWh of mandated clean energy demand by 2030.
The report also points out the challenges associated with getting a transmission line planned and built.
“It takes 10 years or longer for that process to play out. Faced with that timeline, we need to look for ways to streamline and accelerate the process if we are to address the resilience risks facing the transmission system today and meet renewable energy goals targeted by states, utilities and customers over the next 10 years and beyond.”
The authors of the report hope the study will “instill policymakers with a sense of urgency on taking actions that facilitate getting needed transmission built in a timely manner.”
Source: Wires Group