The Transmission Bottleneck
What Might Pick Up the Slack?
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป...
But ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐๐น๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ท๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐, ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐พ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, etc.
And ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ.
This needs to change if the grid is going to:
๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐: Most low-cost wind and solar resources are far from where electricity is consumed, requiring long-distance transmission.
๐๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: A more connected grid can better handle extreme weather, reduce congestion, and prevent blackouts.
๐๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด: Linking regions and ISOs allows electricity to flow where itโs needed most, balancing supply and demand more efficiently.
Amidst those needs t๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ (see the map of 100 kV+ planned and under construction projects below).
But you have to wonder: ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐? ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ?
And if the pace of development does NOT accelerate, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ: ๐๐๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐? ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐? ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐? ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ-๐ฆ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐?
๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ (๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป)?