Grids & Integration

Solar and wind generated 40.2% of the ERCOT grid’s electricity this year through June. When coal plants shut down for unexpected maintenance, solar and wind stepped in, providing about 50% of generation during peak summer demand in the highest electricity consuming state in the union.

While a government report suggests keeping coal units online and adding gas units to meet electricity demand, a GridLab and Telos Energy study suggests that building and connecting clean energy projects now awaiting interconnection could serve near-term demand growth.

A new GridBeyond report finds that succeeding in saturated markets requires software-led agility and real-time decision-making.

The solar trade group Coalition for Community Solar Access reports that a utility requirement to use “direct transfer trip” often makes solar projects uneconomical, while both CCSA and the renewable energy research group IREC find that the hazards targeted by direct transfer trip can be met effectively with far less costly options.

In grids increasingly dominated by renewables, grid-forming technology is emerging as critical tool for maintaining stability and ensuring reliable power system operation. In this interview with ESS News, Rui Sun, Sungrow’s Deputy General Manager-Grid Technology Center, explains how grid-forming works, why it matters, and where the technology is already proving its value. He elaborates on technical challenges, regulatory gaps, and why grid-forming could soon become the new industry standard.

Industry experts discussed the forces driving regional transmission planning, the net benefits of transmission, and the impact of high-capacity transmission projects.

A major U.S. grid operator has shown that interconnection automation is feasible, but there is “much more to do,” said one software executive. Another said that eight transmission planners using his firm’s software can do the work of 80.

Google aims to help deliver more power to areas where it has data centers, by funding projects that increase the capacity of existing transmission lines using advanced conductors made by CTC Global. Large solar projects near reconductored lines could benefit.

About one-sixth of queued solar capacity now holds signed interconnection agreements, signaling real progress even as developers pull more than 130 GW of projects amid tightening interconnection rules.

The MIT/Stanford spinoff announced a collaboration with American Tower Corporation to evaluate high energy density solar panels for telecom towers.