Introducing WATT Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies November 7, 2017
Introducing WATT
Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies
November 7, 2017
High Congestion
$-
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Co
st o
f Co
ng
esti
on
($
M)
CAISO ERCOT ISO-NE MISO NYISO PJM SPP
Data Sources: Multiple sources. Go to www.advancedtransmission.org for more information
© 2017 WATT Coalition2
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
52 30 66 19 36 10 27 48 11 65 18 3 47 8 35 9 42 1 83 31 79 14 20 78 16 17 22 23 29 49 50 51 60 61 75 76
Pa
th U
75 V
alu
e
Path Number
2015 WECC Path U75 DataU75 = the percentage of time the path loading is greater than 75%
33% of these Paths never exceed 75% loading
Low Utilization
Data Source: https://www.wecc.biz/Reliability/2016%20SOTI%20Final.pdf More on the U75 metric can be found here: https://www.wecc.biz/Reliability/2010_WI_TransPath_UtilizationStudy.pdf
© 2017 WATT Coalition3
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High Congestion & Low Utilization
3 Contributing Factors
1. Plan for peak but load is rarely at peak
2. Security constraints, planning & operating standards leave headroom for reliability and resiliency
3. The system has yet to embrace advanced transmission technologies that deliver more watts
Apparent Paradox Explained
Source: https://hub.globalccsinstitute.com/publications/simulating-value-concentrating-solar-power-thermal-energy-storage-production-cost-model/4-test-system
Advanced transmission technologies can unlock much of this unused capacity and provide reliability and economic benefits today
© 2017 WATT Coalition4
Advanced Transmission Technologies
Advanced Technologies Change DemandNew Build
Three Types of Transmission Tools
The grid needs all three5 © 2017 WATT Coalition
WATT
Dynamic Line Rating Advanced Topology ControlAdvanced Power Flow Control
Get more out of the current grid
Members
Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies
© 2017 WATT Coalition6
WATT• Coalition of advanced transmission technologies that increase the utilization of the
transmission system
• Coordinate our education and outreach
• Advocates for the removal of barriers to increased adoption of advanced transmission technologies
– Education
– Utilities are penalized for innovation
– Transparency in transmission planning process
Members
Get more out of the current grid
Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies
© 2017 WATT Coalition7
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Benefits of WATT Technologies
More Transmission Capacity– Up to 2x capacity from real-time measurements (DLR) under low temperature and high wind
conditions – Up to 1.25x capacity from optimized system configuration and flow control settings under
peak demand conditions
Less Congestion– Reduce the $6 billion/year in congestion cost by 1/3, saving consumers $20 billion over ten
years in the US alone
Higher Reliability– Detect instances when the current calculated limits do not comply with reliability standards– Relieve transmission overloads without need to shed load
Improved Renewables Integration– Reduced renewables curtailment (waste)– Adapt the system operation to the changing system conditions (wind, solar)
Economic, Reliability and Clean Energy Benefits
© 2017 WATT Coalition8
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Barriers to Adoption
Awareness• Many planners, utility executives, regulators, and stakeholders are unfamiliar with advanced transmission technologies and their
benefits
No Incentive to Innovation• In most industries, innovation takes risk, extra work and effort, but pays off big. • Not the case for transmission
– Risk is highly discouraged – Reliability is above all else– Utility staff are overworked with little time to dedicate to new initiatives– There is not big payoff for innovation
Are Advanced Transmission Solutions being Considered? • The grid is typically operated in a static and passive way
– Fixed ratings – based on planning calculations– Fixed settings – power flow controls are rarely employed, even when available– Fixed topology/configuration – normal (planning) open/close breaker status are used
• Most planning regions do not require utilities to propose alternative projects• Fewer yet require those alternatives to be publically viewable• Advanced Transmission Technologies tend to not be used in operations, and it is impossible to know if utilities are considering them in
planning
Why are these beneficial technologies not being used
© 2017 WATT Coalition9
Little Incentive to Innovate
Advanced Transmission Technologies solve problems for a fraction of the costs of tradition transmission investments. This graphic shows how this reduction in capital costs results in a penalty to the utility through decreased revenue.
• The vertical axis is a measure of how much revenue a utility earns on a project.
• The horizontal axis represents the cost of traditional transmission investment cost. P
ost
-Ta
x E
arn
ing
s (P
V $
M)
Traditional Transmission Investment(Upfront Capital Cost $M)
For example, for a $50M traditional investment, a utility earns just under $25M in present value post-tax earnings. For an advanced transmission solutions that is 50% of the capital cost of the tradition solution ($25M), the utility earns just under $12M in post-tax earnings (present value). The utility loses ~$12M in earnings when they choose the advanced technology solution. This is no incentive for innovation; there is a penalty for saving money.
© 2017 WATT Coalition10
Rarely is advanced transmission considered
0
20
40
60
2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017Nu
mb
er o
f P
roje
cts
Proposed Projects from 2013-2016 in anonymous region
Total Projects Proposed
Proposal included an Alternative
Proposal included an Advanced Transmission Technology
More often than not, projects are proposed without any alternatives suggested.
In the past 4 years, of the 102 projects proposed only 3 projects included an Advanced Transmission Technology in the alternative.
© 2017 WATT Coalition11
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Solutions to Barriers
Awareness
Remove the penalty to utility innovation– Allow utilities to share in the benefits when they
• Use advanced transmission technologies, AND• Create significant savings for consumers
Consider all alternative: wires, non-wires, and advanced technologies– Provide multiple alternatives to each reliability need– Make these alternatives publically available for review and discussion– Provide enough data available to appropriate stakeholders that experts can
suggest additional alternatives such as advanced transmission technologies
© 2017 WATT Coalition12
Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies
For more information contact
Rob Gramlich / [email protected]