Building out the transmission infrastructure is bound to attract RE developers to the region. (Source)
The Green Power Express is a proposed project to build out approximately 3000 miles of high-voltage transmissions lines in order “to efficiently move up to 12,000 MW of renewable energy in wind-rich areas to major Midwest load centers” at a cost of around $10-12 billion. “Once built the Green Power Express transmission project will traverse portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana” and will deliver a reliable source of power, as well as be able to contribute to overall greenhouse gas reductions for the region.
The Midwest has an enormous amount of wind energy potential. “Many experts agree that wind power can supply 20% of America's electricity by 2030; however, currently the United States produces less than 1% of its electricity from wind resources.” How do we increase the amount of wind energy distributed on the grid?
The answer is to build the transmission lines that go directly from high wind areas to areas where there is a high electricity demand load; in the case of solar, getting the energy from the sun-rich deserts to the cities is the challenge. This has been talked about as a necessary step for renewable energy sources like wind and solar to gain a larger marketshare, but not much has been done on the idea in the past decade. Many solar and wind projects are overlooked because of the costs associated with getting the energy developed on site sent to the demand centers; in many cases, the costs associated with building a wind or solar farm include building transmission lines to connect to the grid.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) just recently approved the necessary financial incentives to get the ‘green power superhighway’ project started. “Meeting our nation's energy goals will require developing an extra-high voltage transmission infrastructure that is needed to bring clean, renewable energy from areas where it is produced most efficiently to areas where most of our nation's power is consumed,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said.
This project crosses through many state lines causing some policy challenges. “Historically, local governments have exercised authority over the grid and have significant disincentives to take action that would benefit states other than their own”; furthermore, upgrades to the transmission infrastructure would “require the coordination of multiple states, a multitude of interlocking permits, and cooperation between a significant portion of the 500 companies that own the grid”. The Green Power Express seeks to overcome these challenges.
Upgrading the transmission infrastructure will require the coordination of utilities, local and state authorities, as well as regional operators, and even federal officials, but it is all necessary to meet the current and future renewable energy goals this country.
FERC’s incentives hopefully will attract investors to the Green Power Express project, and then the new transmission lines will then hopefully attract wind energy developers to the regions; if all goes according to plan, the Midwest increases its energy supply and reduces its emissions.
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