My solar story is really more about upgrading the transmission “highways” to keep the solar power flowing. High quality solar and wind potential can be present far from major cities or industrial operations that need power. Therefore, significant upgrades to the existing electric transmission systems were planned and are still needed today to get solar and wind power to customers. The electric transmission network in the US was under-built from the beginning, therefore the grid does not have extra capacity available to connect and transport electricity from hundreds of megawatts of new Wyoming wind turbines or eastern Oregon solar installations yet, but we’re working on it. As we move to more distributed renewable generation like rooftop solar, the distribution line network will also need significant improvements.
Jen in the field for the Ten West Link 500-kV transmission project being developed to facilitate solar interconnection to the grid near Blythe, CA
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