Reading between the lines

By Barry Batson, MasTec

Improved transmission technologies and a fully implemented smart grid are essential to America’s renewable energy ambitions, says Barry Batson.

“Smart grid technology will allow consumers to have more control and more options on how and when to use electricity”
-Barry Batson

In the United States we continue to work toward reducing our dependence on foreign oils and fossil fuels for power. Renewable Energy Standards and US Federal Tax Credits are among many government incentives that have helped push us along on our journey toward renewable energy solutions.

As a country, we have installed many sources of renewable energy generating facilities such as wind energy turbines, solar power systems, geothermal power plants and many others. In addition to our renewable energy interests, we are continuing to engineer more efficient conventional power plants and also looking at constructing new nuclear base load plants.

Electric use continues to grow in America. More electric production means new and/or improved transmission systems are needed to carry electricity to the populated areas where it will be used. Today many of the transmission systems in the US are more than 40 years old and operating at or near capacity. The electric blackout in the northeastern United States in 2003 highlighted our antiquated electric grid. Recent public focus on renewable energy, specifically wind energy generation has brought an 'energy bottleneck' fact to the forefront. Wind farms are typically built in rural, remote areas or on mountain ridges where wind blows for long durations. These areas are often hundreds of miles from population centers where electric usage is high. New transmission lines are desperately needed.

In Texas the Public Service Commission developed CREZ-Competitive Renewable Electric Zones and devoted $5 billion toward new transmission lines; including approximately 2300 miles of 345 KV lines. This initiative and many more throughout the country have triggered the creation of standalone transmission companies whose assets are primarily transmission lines and substations. Several large, multi-state transmission lines are in the planning/licensing stages; projects like Green Mountain Express, Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. (MATL), High Plains Express, Gateway Project, Northern Lights, Prairie Wind and ITC Great Plains. It's an extremely complex issue to address when dealing with electricity crossing multi-state jurisdictions and involving the FERC for rates, often taking to plan, license, permit and construct new transmission lines and their associated substations.

Advances have also become apparent in transmission line technology. For example, conductors made of composite material may someday replace today's traditional steel conductors and revolutionize transmission design. These composites list advantages including greater ampacity and lighter weight, and could therefore be used on existing structures to carry more power.

Furthermore, the evolution of smart grid technology continues to move forward. Smart grid technology will allow consumers to have more control and more options on how and when to use electricity. Transmission systems will be able to generate more power through existing systems by optimizing them, reducing power flow waste and maximizing the distribution of lowest cost generation sources. This will require upgrade in substations and dispatch centers as well as communication systems. Enhanced equipment includes; phasor measuring units, distributed superconducting magnetic energy storage devices, digital sensing relays, phase shifting transformers. Utilities will have more information to perform dynamic modeling of the transmission system to further optimize. Once in place smart grid technologies can help utilities make better decisions on use of their resources and increase reliability of the grid.

Barry Batson is the Vice President of Business Development at MasTec, Inc. MasTec, and subsidiary company Wanzek Construction, work together to provide complete solutions for the design and construction of wind farms, transmission lines, substations and smart grid technologies.