Scrolling through my newsfeed this morning, I came across this article about the need for transmission development in Africa. I’ve copy and pasted article’s first two paragraphs to give you the gist:
“Solar panels and wind turbines are becoming an increasingly common sight across Africa, as the continent’s green energy revolution gathers pace. But to reap the benefits of an energy system in which renewable sources are dominant, investment is desperately needed in a type of infrastructure that can easily be forgotten – electricity transmission.
Investment in long-distance power lines is ramping up around the world, given that wind and solar facilities are often located far from power consumers. But Africa is lagging behind.”
It occurred to me while reading the report, that you could switch out the word ‘Africa’ with ‘U.S.A.’ and most everything would still be true. Granted, the magnitude of the problems are different. America’s transmission system is better than those of most African countries, and our blackouts pail in comparison to South Africa’s recent ones. Still, decades of stagnation have left us with an inadequate transmission system that hamstrings our adoption of renewables and makes us vulnerable to outages.
Although like in Africa, financial constraints and graft play a role in America’s current predicament, regulation is the main culprit. The regulatory barriers facing transmission developers were highlighted in a report by the nonprofit Americans for a Clean Energy Grid last year. The study identified 22 shovel-ready projects that have been in existence for a decade or more. To get such projects off the ground, the report’s authors suggested streamlining project siting and permitting, passing a tax credit for transmission projects, and direct investment by the federal government. Let’s hope our lawmakers take note, and quick.