PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization, is the world’s largest grid and distributes electricity across 13 states and the District of Columbia. They recently announced the selection of 51 power projects under their Reliability Resource Initiative (RRI). This program would help strengthen grid reliability by including both uprates to currently existing resources and reversals of construction proposals. The chosen projects are expected to have a highly positive impact on the capacity and efficiency of the entire electricity grid.
Of the 51 projects, 39 are uprates to existing resources (more capacity that uses the same footprint), and the other 12 include proposals for new construction. These uprates are collectively projected to deliver 2.11 gigawatts (GW) of unforced capacity (UCAP). In total, the new construction projects are slated to add another 7.25 GW of UCAP. Together, these upgrades will result in an astounding 9.36 GW of UCAP for PJM’s grid.
The subsequent selection process for these projects was very competitive, with PJM receiving applications from 94 qualified candidates. The organization relied on a rigid weighting scheme. Most notably, it emphasized the UCAP offered by projects relative to their proposed in-service dates. It examined projects’ Effective Load Carrying Capability, or ELCC. It disproportionately focused on areas where the need for energy generation was especially acute.
PJM’s commitment to ensuring reliability on the grid goes further than just focusing on new projects. The initiatives they chose to fund strongly emphasize increasing automation and staff cutting. With the new process, we’ve been able to decrease the project backlog by a whopping 60%! This major operational improvement is consistent with PJM’s long-term direction towards maximizing efficiency and enabling faster interconnection to the grid.
In an admirable collaboration, PJM has worked with Google and Tapestry to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Each of these tools strengthens the planning process for interconnecting new generation resources to the grid. They truly help maximize productivity and dependability. This decision is a positive step for PJM’s long-term efforts to innovate its operations. Most importantly, it moves at the speed of changing energy demands and technology.
In 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved considerable reforms to the interconnection process by PJM Interconnection. This shift dramatically altered the system’s allocation process from a “first-come, first-served” model to a “first-ready, first-served” system. Whether this change will really speed implementation of the best projects and make the best use of limited resources remains to be seen.