The US government has allocated an additional $2bn for 38 projects to boost the capacity and resilience of the electricity grid.
The projects will upgrade nearly 1000 miles of transmission lines across 42 states for an extra 7.5GW of capacity, demand is still outstripping the funding, for grid renewal, which has reached $7.6bn.
The additional funding for the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) programme from the Department of Energy (DOE) is to meet the growing threats of extreme weather and an increase in manufacturing, data centres, and electrification.
The programme was seven times oversubscribed selected projects announced today will upgrade more than 950 miles of transmission by constructing more than 300 miles of new transmission lines and reconductoring or adding grid-enhancing technologies to more than 650 miles of transmission lines to increase the capacity of existing lines.
The first round of GRIP funding, announced in October 2023, included $3.5 billion for 58 projects in 44 states. In August, the DOE announced an additional $2.2 billion for eight additional selections. This additional funding brings the total for grid investment to $7.6bn for 104 projects for 55GW of capacity.
- $42m for grid research
- Siemens buys US switchgear maker for grid modernisation
- Siemens highlights key challenge for renewable power grids
With the risk of wildfires increasing in the Southwest, Arizona Public Service Company (APS) will upgrade system devices, monitoring systems, upgrade wood utility poles, and implement microgrids in vulnerable areas to enhance energy reliability and resilience.
In Indiana and Illinois Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative and Southern Illinois Power Cooperative will build new transmission feeds to loop transmission to 10 substations in seven counties. These substations face increasing outages from extreme weather events and tornados. Adding looped transmission will increase grid resilience and reduce outages by providing backup connections to additional substations.
Entergy Texas Inc (ETI) will enhance grid resilience in disadvantaged communities in Port Arthur, Texas by fortifying critical infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events, which have historically caused significant power disruptions.
Across Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and its project partners will conduct 84 resilience subprojects across eight states to add over 2,400 MW of transmission grid capacity, reduce TVA’s solar interconnection queue, and reduce outage time.
Boston-based GridUnity will deploy software to improve the efficiency of the interconnection process with multiple Regional Transmission Organizations covering approximately 70% of the U.S. population—around 210 million people—to enhance energy reliability, security, and lower costs.
DOE’s Transmission Interconnection Roadmap found that interconnection queue delays “significantly delay clean energy deployment and lead to higher costs for project developers and electricity consumers.” By modernizing the interconnection process, the project will significantly reduce the time required to review, approve, and commission new generation interconnections across the country and accelerate the approval of generation projects and grid developments that could employ 51,300 skilled workers.
A full list of GRIP projects, including awards finalized to date, is available here.