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The buildout of clean energy transmission lines in the US has been achingly slow, and the Trump administration is not likely to make it any easier. Still, the nation’s network of transmission lines for wind and solar energy is growing, and line owners are also beginning to leverage AI-enabled weather models and sensors to increase transmission line capacity.
Transmission Lines & AI-Enabled Weather Modeling
The topic of transmission line enhancement crossed the CleanTechnica radar earlier this week on account of the Estonian startup Gridraven, which has developed an AI-enabled weather model aimed at maximizing line capacity when conditions are favorable. The firm just nailed down a €4 million funding round to set up shop in Austin, Texas.
Tweaks to transmission line capacity are part of the normal routine. However, in the past, adjustments were limited to seasonal timeframes and calculated with a safety margin that factors in worst-case scenarios. In 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finally began requiring line operators to apply ambient air temperature with the aim of adjusting capacity within near-term time frames. The new rule also allowed, but did not require, line owners to deploy dynamic line ratings that incorporate wind speed and other factors.
In addition to weather modeling, new sensor-based systems are emerging in the dynamic line rating toolkit. Gridraven offers a cost-cutting alternative by eliminating sensors and other hardware in favor of a pinpoint-precise weather model. The company states that its model accounts for the impact of “every tree, building and hill near the right of way.”
“Our solution increases the capacity of overhead lines by up to 30% annually — sometimes as much as 50% during windy periods — without requiring new infrastructure,” emphasizes Gridraven CTO and co-founder Dr. Henri Manninen. “This can significantly alleviate bottlenecks, reduce costs, and expedite grid expansion efforts.”
The company has the numbers to prove it. Last year, Gridraven tested its system on a 110 kV line operated by the Estonian firm Elergin. It runs through a forest, and the treescape has made it difficult for conventional forecasting systems to predict conditions with precision.
“Gridraven’s solution demonstrated significant success,” the company reported, noting that its average forecast accuracy was a 60% improvement over existing technology, resulting in a 30% capacity increase compared to existing forecast systems.
“From September to November 2024, Gridraven’s forecasted line capacity was a third higher than the capacity achieved with the previously used approach while ensuring that confidence intervals for constantly changing variables were met,” Gridraven added.
The company also reported a 95% confidence interval 95.1% of the time (an online demo is available here).
The €4 million funding round was spearheaded by European venture capital firms, including the A-list outfits 42CAP of Germany and the Finnish firm Icebreaker.
Instant Clean Energy Transmission Line Upgrades: Just Add Weather
Capacity rating systems are source-agnostic, applicable to electricity from fossil and nuclear power plants as well as wind farms and solar arrays. Still, renewable energy advocates anticipate that maximizing the capacity of existing lines is a particularly favorable development for the transition to clean energy.
“The current U.S. transmission system will need to be upgraded and expanded to make it possible to carry larger amounts of clean energy across longer distances,” the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory observed last May, in a discussion of dynamic line ratings.
“By retrofitting existing transmission lines with weather monitors, grid operators can adjust the line rating of a transmission line from hour to hour, boosting the carrying capacity when it is safe to do so,” NREL explained.
The lab also indicated that improvements in weather-related capacity ratings would provide more room for alternative energy resources to respond to grid disruptions and avoid curtailments, instead of being boxed in by transmission line bottlenecks.
Curtailments are not unusual in the clean energy field, as spikes in the availability of wind or solar energy don’t necessarily match daily demand cycles. Energy storage can help to some extent, but over the long run, improvements in the nation’s transmission network are needed in order to minimize clean energy curtailments and provide more flexibility.
“On very cold winter nights, traditional power plants may fail to keep up with the high energy demand, but alternative power plants may not be able to generate at full output because there is simply not enough capacity in the transmission lines to move power to the right place,” NREL explained.
“In a situation like this, dynamic line ratings could allow grid operators to increase line ratings that were determined during a typical, warm day to match the reality during periods of extreme cold weather,” elaborated NREL senior research fellow Paul Denholm. “This simple change could provide much-needed power to people that might not otherwise have it.”
“As it turns out, we can easily add tools that monitor local weather conditions along various parts of a transmission line and say, ‘You know what? It’s cooler. Let’s increase the rating of this line by 5% or 10%,’” Denholm emphasized.
More Clean Energy From The Same Transmission Lines
NREL also points out that adding sensors to transmission lines is a low risk venture. If the hardware is damaged or disrupted, line operators can simply fall back on their previous forecast system.
Hardware failure is not an issue for Gridraven’s sensor-free system. Still, with hardware or without, the field of dynamic line rating is beginning to grow legs in the US.
One example is the firm LineVision, which began installing its sensors on National Grid transmission lines in the western part of upstate New York back in 2022. Following a pilot project, the system went into full operation last spring.
“As expected, the increased capacity from LineVision’s DLR technology is highly correlated with renewable generation carried over these lines,” LineVision notes.
“Operationalizing this data will help National Grid maximize the capacity of these lines amidst changing weather conditions and bring more renewable energy to customers,” the firm emphasizes.
Hints of a forthcoming uptick in dynamic line rating activity also emerged last summer, when FERC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to require dynamic line ratings on some transmission lines.
“These potential reforms would require transmission line ratings to reflect solar heating based on the sun’s position and forecastable cloud cover and require transmission line ratings to reflect forecasts of wind conditions on certain transmission lines,” FERC noted.
Clean energy stakeholders are pointing out the potential for dynamic line ratings to save money, not just the planet.
In comments submitted to FERC last October, for example, the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators took note of a utility in Pennsylvania that saved more than $60 million year-over-year after it deployed dynamic line ratings on two lines.
“State legislators are committed to ensuring their constituents have access to clean, affordable, and reliable electricity,” the organization emphasized.
No word yet on a forthcoming decision from FERC under the Trump administration. Meanwhile, utilities in Nevada and Georgia are among those with plans in the works to deploy dynamic line ratings, FERC or no FERC.
As for Gridraven’s decision to set up shop in Texas, that’s a no-brainer. While fossil energy is still in play, the impact on clean energy development in Texas could be substantial, considering the state’s leading position in the wind energy industry. Texas is also second behind solar-happy California for installed solar capacity, and the emerging solar grazing phenomenon is about to add more fuel to the fire.
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Image (cropped): New direct line ratings technology enables existing transmission lines to deliver more energy — including clean energy — when and where it’s needed (courtesy of Gridraven).
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