{"id":105629,"date":"2024-04-17T14:54:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T18:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/\/?p=105629"},"modified":"2024-04-17T14:55:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T18:55:08","slug":"doe-releases-solutions-speed-clean-energy-interconnection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/\/2024\/04\/doe-releases-solutions-speed-clean-energy-interconnection\/","title":{"rendered":"DOE releases new solutions to speed clean energy interconnection and clear backlog"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) released a new roadmap<\/a> outlining solutions to speed up the interconnection of clean energy onto the nation\u2019s transmission grid and clear the existing backlog of solar, wind and battery projects seeking to be built. The Transmission Interconnection Roadmap, developed by DOE\u2019s Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X), serves as a guide for transmission providers, interconnection customers, state agencies, federal regulators, transmission owners, load serving entities (LSEs), equipment manufacturers, consumer advocates, equity and energy justice communities, advocacy groups, consultants and the research community, which includes DOE. The roadmap sets aggressive success targets for interconnection improvement by 2030 and outlines tools that will improve the process for connecting more clean energy projects to a reliable grid, while helping achieve the Biden-Harris Administration\u2019s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearing the backlog of nearly 12,000 solar, wind and storage projects waiting to connect to the grid is essential to deploying clean electricity to more Americans,\u201d said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. \u201cThrough the i2X program, the Biden-Harris Administration is accelerating the interconnection process by ensuring all stakeholders have better access to data and improved standards and procedures as we seek to develop and maintain a more efficient, reliable and clean grid.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a report recently released by DOE\u2019s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory<\/a>, nearly 2,600 GW of generation and storage capacity are actively seeking grid interconnection, which represents an eight-fold increase since 2014. The high volume of projects and inadequate existing procedures for interconnection has led to uncertainties, delays, inequities and added costs for developers, consumers, utilities and their regulators.<\/p>\n

The i2X roadmap<\/a> provides a broad range of stakeholders such as transmission providers, state agencies, federal regulators, equipment manufacturers and other actors with a set of 35 solutions organized around increasing data access, transparency and security for interconnection; improving interconnection process and timeline; promoting economic efficiency in interconnection; and maintaining a reliable, resilient and secure grid. The roadmap includes four target metrics for interconnection reform including shorter interconnection times, lower interconnection cost variance, increased completion rates and zero disturbance events attributed to modeling.<\/p>\n

Over the past two years of developing the roadmap, DOE collected ideas and potential solutions through a series of stakeholder workshops and virtual meetings, along with a request for information published in October 2023 to solicit public feedback and comments on a draft version of the document. The solutions in the final roadmap include:<\/p>\n