By Anthony Allard, Head of North America, Hitachi Energy

The debate around the progress of the clean energy transition has often centered on generation, specifically, whether we can produce enough wind and solar power to displace fossil fuels. This is a valid concern, but equally critical is the need to make sure that we have the ‘plumbing’ in place to get this clean power from where it is generated to where it is needed. Here in the U.S., this challenge is particularly acute. When I say plumbing, I’m referring to transmission and distribution networks.

In the case of wind power, the energy generated by the turbines offshore needs to be transported back to shore – often over very long distances – and integrated with existing grids. However, given the scale of development taking place in the U.S., particularly on the east coast, it is unlikely that local markets will be able to absorb all the power being generated in local waters. For instance, current plans call for approximately 6 GW of capacity to be developed off Long Island, which would turn this region into a net exporter of power for the first time.

Similar dynamics exist in other parts of the country, such as the Midwest and desert Southwest. Both areas are attractive for renewable energy developers, but the best sites for development are often located far from established transmission corridors or major load centers. Transporting the power from these locations to other markets will require a more robust transmission grid serving a broader, diverse mix of geographies.

This mismatch between the areas served by existing transmission resources and the locations most attractive for renewable generation is one of the biggest bottlenecks slowing the progress of the clean energy transition. Addressing this bottleneck is a critical requirement for the United States and for North America more broadly if we are to achieve our collective carbon reduction targets and slow climate change.

Policy Challenges

Unfortunately, a variety of structural impediments make this goal difficult to accomplish. First, transmission systems frequently need to cover long distances and often cross state (and occasionally national) borders. This can make for arduous siting and permitting and processes, which can be extremely complex and contentious. As a result, political dynamics, public sentiment, and regulatory requirements can be the deciding factors in the success or failure of a given project.

Due in part to this fragmented process, the U.S. lacks a nationwide grid or sufficient transfer capacity between the existing regional interconnections to move large amounts of power between regions. There is currently no overarching national plan for electricity transmission in the U.S. Establishing such a plan would be an important step toward reducing the transmission bottleneck. It would aid in assessing a variety of requirements, including:

• The best potential locations for renewable energy development
• Locations of existing transmission lines and gaps
• Areas requiring more capacity
• Opportunities to strengthen transfer capacity between different regional grids and the interconnection areas

If such a plan is developed and implemented, it could facilitate the more effective sharing of power between different regions. This would offer a variety of benefits, such as helping to address localized supply shortages resulting from extreme weather events. It would also provide the capability to address the time-of-day challenges associated with renewable energy sources, which are not dispatchable.

For instance, during daylight hours, when solar generation in California is at its peak, excess power could be shipped back east to serve load centers in the center of the country. Similarly, in the evening, when wind power is abundant in the Midwest, available power could be shipped to the West Coast to fill the gap created as solar resources go offline. This kind of sharing is not possible today at anything like the scale needed to support the clean energy transition.

A siting and permitting process where national interest would prevail over local interests would be an ideal way to achieve high-level objectives, but political realities make this approach challenging. An alternative that could be explored is a collaboration between neighboring states to establish regional plans. This could help smooth the way for projects that have the potential to support the development of systems to support the regional sharing of power.

Technology solutions

The primary obstacles to the achievement of this goal are not technical. The key technologies needed to expand the transmission grid and resolve some of our most critical interconnection challenges are mature and available today. Advanced transmission technologies, such as high-voltage direct current (HVDC) and power quality solutions, such as flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS) have already proven themselves effective at meeting the transmission needs of utility-scale renewable energy projects and high-capacity regional interconnections. Such systems are already in commercial operation, addressing exactly these kinds of challenges around the world, most notably in Europe.

There is no reason we shouldn’t be putting the same kinds of systems in place in North America. Fortunately, there is growing interest and activity in the U.S. and Canada around the establishment of large-scale, long-distance electrical transmission systems, particularly to link renewable energy generation sources with load centers. And we have begun to see some positive movement in terms of concrete commitments.

Hitachi Energy announced the successful commissioning of a 500 kV – 1400 MVAr series capacitor bank, one of the largest in the world, on March 31, 2021 for Minnesota Power’s Great Northern Transmission Line project.

FACTS solutions offer a means to upgrade existing AC transmission grids to take advantage of systems that have already been permitted. A recent project Hitachi Energy completed with Minnesota Power addressed exactly this kind of opportunity.

Similarly, Hitachi Energy recently announced its involvement in a major renewable electricity transmission project called Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE), an HVDC interconnection between Quebec, Canada and the New York City metro area. CHPE will transfer up to 1,250 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1 million New York households, which also helps to address the State of New York’s carbon reduction goals.

If we want to see a real impact in transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, we need to see many more projects like CHPE and Minnesota Power. The demand for electricity is increasing, and this trend will accelerate as we electrify more sectors of the economy, like transportation, manufacturing, mining and more.

By reaching a collective agreement on the scope and broad outlines of the transmission needs in North America and removing or mitigating the structural impediments that are delaying or preventing the development of needed transmission projects, we could lay the foundation for the successful pursuit of our collective efforts to minimize the impacts of climate change. The U.S. government, local governments and industry have an opportunity to work together to accelerate the expansion of much-needed transmission resources. The sooner we get started, the better.

Sponsored content by Hitachi Energy

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What to consider to optimize your assets and decrease downtime

By Tom Hall, Head of Condition Monitoring Services, SkySpecs

The wind industry has been growing rapidly in recent years, and as a result, the need for effective maintenance strategies has become more important than ever. One of the most critical components of a wind turbine is the drivetrain, which is responsible for converting the rotational motion of the blades into electrical power. However, the drivetrain is also one of the most vulnerable components, and failure can result in significant downtime and repair costs. To avoid these issues, condition monitoring of the drivetrain has become an essential tool in the wind industry.

Monitoring requires engineers to use multiple sensor data streams to monitor the health of assets in real time. However, with the wind industry growing so quickly, it means there are hundreds of thousands of assets that need to be installed, monitored, and maintained. Condition monitoring is very engineering-heavy and involves specialist engineers sifting through tons of data to assess conditions. It is similar to a doctor looking at thousands of X-rays every day — it’s very time-consuming and complex, but modern tools aim to simplify and unify data.

By detecting potential issues early and taking corrective action, operators can minimize downtime, reduce repair costs, and ensure the reliable operation of their wind turbines. With the continued growth of the wind industry, condition monitoring will only become more critical, and operators who invest in this technology will be best positioned to succeed in the long term.

The case study below outlines two real-life examples of what happens when a fault is detected and actioned early versus late and the impact that can have financially.

Both faults were very similar as they were defects on the generator bearings and happened on 2.05 MW turbines on the same site. Both developing faults were additionally spotted around the same time — however, that’s where the similarities end. The speed to action and associated costs were vastly different, as seen below. 

Wind farm operators don’t always have the resources to stay ahead of every fault that could potentially shut down their turbine. But early fault detection can be one of the most impactful approaches to lowering O&M costs and LCOE. As the case study suggests, early fault handling provides several benefits, such as reduced downtime, improved safety, lower repair costs and enhanced performance.

Benefits of early fault handling:

1. Reduced downtime: Early detection and handling of faults can prevent them from escalating into more serious problems that require extensive repairs or even component replacements. This helps to minimize turbine downtime, ensuring that they operate at peak efficiency for longer periods.
2. Improved safety: Early fault detection and handling can prevent catastrophic failures, which can be dangerous to nearby personnel and costly to repair. By identifying and fixing issues early, you can ensure that your turbine operates safely and reliably.
3. Lower repair costs: Early fault detection and handling can also help to minimize repair costs, as it can prevent damage from spreading to other components in the drivetrain or the turbine as a whole.
4. Enhanced performance: By addressing faults early, you can ensure that your wind turbine is operating at its optimal capacity, maximizing energy production and minimizing losses due to downtime.

Ensure your condition monitoring discipline is scalable for the future

SkySpecs applies innovative approaches and technologies that help wind farm owner-operators effectively manage their drivetrain O&M so they can properly identify, mitigate, and monitor the drivetrain risks most impactful to their operations. We care about the health and performance of your fleet and realize the true value of CMS occurs through actions, not just detections.

SkySpecs offers Horizon CMS, a software product for advanced teams of condition monitoring engineers as well as a team of SkySpecs diagnostic engineers that you can leverage to extend your team’s capacity and ultimately lower your O&M costs.

Talk to us about your drivetrain monitoring and diagnostics strategy.

Sponsored content by SkySpecs

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By Hitachi Energy

The European Union’s North Sea countries recently vowed to build more than half of the bloc’s needed offshore wind capacity by 2050 in order to reach EU climate neutrality. At the heart of the ambition to turn the North Sea into a green energy powerhouse lies the idea that countries will collectively harvest the water’s windy resources and jointly reap the benefits of this interconnected clean electricity revolution. But such a complex network is yet to be designed and built, raising questions about how a meshed offshore grid could actually be implemented from a technical and economical point of view.

In this Perspectives, Sandy Mactaggart, Director of Offshore Delivery at SSEN Transmission, the electricity transmission network owner in the north of Scotland, and Niklas Persson, Managing Director of Grid Integration at Hitachi Energy, discuss the development of a meshed offshore grid based on hands-on experience gained whilst jointly developing one of Europe’s flagship HVDC (high-voltage direct current) multi-terminal projects in Scotland. They argue that offshore grids will be absolutely vital to unlock and harvest the best renewable energy resources and that a holistic planning approach involving all stakeholders as early as possible is the most efficient way forward. They also agree that a HVDC network stretching across several countries is technically feasible and that the entire energy transmission supply chain needs to tackle the risks surrounding current commodity price fluctuations and the availability of material.

Q: What are the benefits of strong relationships between project developers and technology providers when delivering energy transition projects?

Sandy Mctaggart (S.M.), SSEN Transmission: The key benefit of establishing long-term relationships with our supply chain and really understanding the collective approach is delivering on our plans by jointly managing the activities and risks.

Niklas Persson (N.P.), Hitachi Energy: I fully agree with what Sandy said and collaboration applies especially to HVDC technology. Its engineering processes are very specific compared to normal offshore AC substations where you have more standard interfaces that are well developed through many years of standardization. When it comes to HVDC we have a collaborative engineering process throughout the project. In our work with Sandy and his team we understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. By discussing and agreeing on who is best suited to take on certain areas we eliminate risks throughout the execution process.

Q: How can project developers and technology providers best collaborate to deliver on plans, given the existing supply chain bottlenecks?

S.M.: As transmission operators we’re always working within tight timescales. I see great opportunity in a program approach rather than looking at individual projects, and in the UK we’re seeing this now with the publication of National Grid’s Holistic Network Design. It will certainly make it a lot easier by allowing us to organize activities in a way that encourages the most efficient delivery, while helping us avoid bottlenecks. Previously, we were often looking at individual projects as they came along with their own unique characteristics and timelines.

Specifically on the delivery of our second HVDC project, we found ways to improve efficiency when considering the timescales that were actually needed, without exposing either party to additional risks. The program approach certainly allows our management teams to learn from better planning and scheduling and to deploy lessons learnt on future projects.

N.P.: At Hitachi Energy, we have in the past been asked to do EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) work. Before, when the market was requiring only a couple of HVDC projects globally, we had the ability to either join forces with a partner or to carry out the construction work ourselves. But now that the market is requiring many more projects, we are looking at where can we scale best. That’s in our own factories where we make components like transformers, valves, control and protection, cooling systems etc., and it’s also in our engineering teams because we are a very attractive employer in this area.

Considering the scaling-up we are facing, we have adapted our approach to projects now through programs and more standardized interfaces, but also through each partner focusing on taking on the risks they can take on best and growing capacity to execute. This is key for us going forward.

Q: Are meshed offshore grids possible, and if so, what would be the benefits?

S.M.: There will be a requirement for offshore grids, they’re absolutely necessary for the future of the green energy transition.

We obviously need to look at the challenges associated with meshed offshore grids on a regulatory, technology and delivery basis. As a transmission operator, we are certainly taking very important steps towards an offshore grid. At the moment, we’re delivering the Shetland HVDC link project together with Hitachi Energy, that’s a multi-terminal project which will connect Shetland to the wider Great Britain’s grid for the very first time. Within Europe it’s certainly an important flagship project.

Point-to-point connections are becoming a challenge, certainly in the UK, in terms of achieving permissions and consents to build. That’s why we’re looking at the possibility of building a DC switching station in the Peterhead area of Aberdeenshire. We’re very confident in the multi-terminal technology that we’re deploying on the Shetland project which is an important foundations step for offshore grids. We need to address some of the challenges going forward but there’s no doubt that offshore grids will be needed.

N.P.: Agreeing on the design is the first thing that needs to happen. What will offshore meshed networks look like and what is the regulatory framework? How do you decide who receives the energy generated and when? How do project developers generate revenues? We need to address these questions before we can deploy the technology and decide how to collaborate among OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to make sure that the various technologies actually integrate well.

Sponsored content by Hitachi Energy

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