Grid United

As recent heat waves and resulting stresses on the power grid underscore – America’s electric grid needs updating, and we are lucky at Grid United to be working to address this massive challenge every day. We’ve created a short video describing how America’s antiquated electric grid came to be and the solutions we are driving forward – long-haul transmission lines to make our power more reliable and secure. If you want to make a significant impact on strengthening the grid and are up for a career that will require humility, ingenuity and tenacity, check out our open positions at: https://lnkd.in/g-sphC7v.

We’re excited to welcome Jack Farley to the Grid United team as our new Chief Commercial Officer. Jack brings a wealth of experience and will be instrumental in helping us commercialize our projects. Welcome, Jack! #Team #Grid #United #Energy #Infrastructure #GrowingTeam

Thank you to our #transmission panelists Michael Skelly, Co-Founder and CEO of Grid United; Crystal Coffman, Senior Business Development Director for Pattern Energy Group; Anne-Laure Chassanite, Managing Director Networks North America for ENGIE North America Inc.; and Pedro Almeida Pereira, CFO and Chief Business Development Officer for energyRe; for sharing insights into the obstacles and opportunities in expanding U.S. transmission systems to meet growing demand and deploy more clean energy.

We are thrilled to announce that for a second time, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Transmission Facilitation Program, selected Southline Transmission Project as a capacity contract recipient. This reflects continued confidence in Southline’s ability to enhance grid reliability and support clean energy integration in the Desert Southwest. A huge thank you to the Office of Infrastructure, U.S. Department of Energy for its ongoing support and to all of our partners for their commitment to advancing a more resilient and reliable grid. Onward! #DesertSouthwest #BipartisanInfrastructureLaw #Reliability #GridResilience #Transmission #RenewableEnergy DOE Grid Deployment Office https://lnkd.in/g_qqYGPX

TODAY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $1.5 billion investment in four transmission projects to improve grid reliability and resilience across the country. With funding from the Grid Deployment Office’s Transmission Facilitation Program, the projects selected will enable nearly 1,000 miles of new transmission development and 7,100 MW of new capacity throughout Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. These investments will help relieve costly transmission congestion and open access to affordable energy to millions of Americans. Read the full announcement: https://lnkd.in/eezBuEYJ

In May, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revived efforts from the late 90s to encourage greater interregional electricity transmission planning with FERC Order No. 1920. As Grid United founder and CEO Michael Skelly explains in the latest #TenAcrossConversations podcast; this order is intended to mobilize and prepare utilities for record-breaking power demand projected over the next five to 30 years, as artificial intelligence and American manufacturing are beginning to take off. Grid United is also leading the charge on strengthening the U.S. electric grid and connecting intermittent, regionally-specific renewable energy resources like solar and wind to the rest of the nation. Michael and his team do this by scouting feasible grid-to-grid transmission pathways and convening various stakeholders from all levels of government and the community to support their development. Their Southline Transmission Project was one of three recipients of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s recent $1.3 billion commitment to improving the grid. Learn more about #FERCOrder1920 and Grid United in this podcast episode: https://lnkd.in/gkycFRkN

Learn why we need large-scale transmission in the MIT Technology Review: As it stands, the meager links between the Eastern Interconnection and Western Interconnection amount to “tiny little soda straws connecting two Olympic swimming pools,” says Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies LLC Strategies, a consultancy in Washington, DC. " Read more from James Temple about how Michael Skelly plans to build some of the interregional transmission we need: https://lnkd.in/gnFK9r_G

Grid United CEO, Michael Skelly, will moderate a panel at the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Grid Forum on Grid Innovations: Leveraging Grid-Enhancing Technologies, High-Performance Computing, and Other Advanced Technologies to Meet Growing Power Demand. Join us on October 10th to hear industry leaders discuss how advanced technologies are transforming the energy grid to meet future demand! Be part of the conversation. Learn more at: acore.org/GridForum #GridInnovation #EnergyTransition #GETonthegrid #GETtingonthegrid #electricity #demand #ACORE #power #grid

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗧 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 As most power system studies engineers know, the western interconnection, eastern interconnection, and ERCOT interconnection powerflow models are kept separate in most instances for transmission planning studies. There are benefits to keeping these models separate, which can be boiled down to two points: Quicker powerflow simulation times and to simply reduce the complexity of the powerflow analysis. 𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱?  As changes in supply, demand, and extreme weather conditions are challenging grid reliability, DOE’s National Transmission Needs study identified a significant need for new interregional transmission. Analysis of interregional HVDC lines across the major AC interconnections can be a significant challenge in certain simulations when the Interconnections are modeled independently. Therefore, there are a few benefits to combining these models: • Operational scenarios evaluation • Advanced powerflow studies monitoring multiple AC interconnections • Analysis of interregional market interaction • And more! 𝗦𝗼, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗧 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿? We decided to combine steady-state powerflow cases from WECC, NERC MMWG eastern interconnection models, and ERCOT. Here were some of the major hurdles on the way to the final mega-model: • 𝗕𝘂𝘀 #, 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮 #, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 # 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗽 - Overlapping equipment #’s and  zone/area identifiers must be changed to accommodate combining the models and differentiate equipment • 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗗𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲, and; • 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗛𝗩𝗗𝗖 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗘𝗖𝗖, 𝗦𝗣𝗣, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗧 - The swing bus conundrum: The HVDC links between the 3 major interconnects are modeled in a variety of different ways in each individual model, including a combination of: swing buses, HVDC lines, generators, loads, and reactive power devices. This makes the modeling/attaching of the existing B2B HVDC links, swing bus edits, and rebalancing the powerflow cases for optimal convergence a hefty challenge 𝗧𝗼 W𝗿𝗮𝗽 U𝗽 W𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 and the mega-model works smoothly as a steady-state powerflow case.  𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗴𝗮-𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺?