One of the greatest obstacles to a clean energy future in the United States is a waiting list. By accelerating backlogged clean energy initiatives, the nation could significantly reduce its carbon output over the next few years.
Unfortunately, years-long approval processes and interconnection queues, compounded by the tremendous increase in the number of proposed projects spurred by federal initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act, is creating extensive delays of renewable energy projects intended for commercial operation. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory data shows that the duration from connection request to commercial operation has more than doubled, from less than two years in 2000 to 2007 to a median time of five years for projects built in 2022.
In just one example, Chicago-based utility Commonwealth Edison has 1,300 projects consisting of more than 2,600 megawatts of capacity in their renewable interconnection queue. This is indicative of the huge opportunity–and challenge–for renewable energy projects. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2023, renewable sources, including wind, solar, hydroelectric, biomass and geothermal, produced nearly a quarter – 874 billion kilowatt-hours – of all power generated in the U.S., and that number is expected to rise.
Also according to the EIA, solar generation in the US is expected to increase from 163 billion kilowatt hours in 2023 to 286 billion in 2025, an increase of more than 75 percent. Over the same time, wind power is predicted to grow by 11 percent, from 430 billion kilowatt hours in 2023 to 476 billion in 2025.
The challenge ahead is less about demand, and more about how to deploy these clean energy projects at the scale needed to realize their benefits.
For example, the developer of a proposed solar farm must work with the local utility on a lengthy engineering review and grid capacity analysis before they even break ground. Lengthy electrical planning studies are necessary to evaluate whether the current electrical capacity of the grid will require new equipment investment. These processes can take years and may require the added investment of funding system upgrades to the grid. As delays drag on, the support for projects often looks different–investors may lose interest or the economics change. It’s not uncommon for developers to abandon renewable energy projects altogether.
Technology as an Accelerator
Among the many pathways utilities are pursuing to contribute to the nation’s clean energy goals, data and digital technology have emerged as ways to both accelerate innovation and mitigate growing delays between interconnection requests and commercial operation.
A renewable energy initiative recently adopted by California regulators helps projects avoid backlogs and the need for costly upgrades, in exchange for allowing utility operators to curtail the amount of power they send into the grid under certain circumstances. While California is the first state to adopt regulations that formalize the concept, this has been done for years by utilities around the country. Digital technology is enhancing these kinds of state and federal initiatives.
For instance, a utility with a distributed energy resources management system (DERMS) installed can improve operator decision making around how to effectively integrate renewables into the grid, while ensuring safety and reliability are not compromised. With DERMS, utilities can be less concerned about grid capacity in the approval process because they can dynamically control renewable output in real-time to prevent back feeds and overloads while adhering to physical grid constraints. This capability can reduce the interconnection analysis required and ensure faster approvals of renewable interconnection applications.
A few years ago, DERMS was critical in helping a U.S. utility with a two-megawatt solar farm accelerate a significant interconnection approval backlog. The backlog was due, in part, to having already reached renewable capacity at some of its physical grid locations. Data from the utility’s DERMS allowed them to work with the owner of the solar array to devise a plan to automatically curtail solar generation under certain circumstances to prevent back feeds of power onto the grid. With this new automation in place, the utility was able to approve additional renewable projects on the circuit, tripling the amount of renewable generation capacity supported on this circuit to six megawatts.
Mitigating Risks & Costs
Digital technology will also play a supplemental role in the long-term success of clean energy projects. Once proposed projects reach regulators for permitting, data can show precise information on a project’s value and risk, and ultimately help reduce their time to approval. The faster projects are deployed, the cheaper the cost of both renewable technologies and the electricity they generate, which ultimately reduces the green premium associated with such project.
There is too much at stake for long interconnection queues and wait times to be the reason we’re unable to reach our collective net zero goals. Digital technology offers one pathway to creating those solutions. Now is the time to put it to us.