100. How to Get Up to 40% More Capacity from Existing Power Grid Transmission Lines

Experts claim power grid infrastructure needs to be upgraded to accommodate the vast amount of renewable energy expected to be added to the system in coming decades. That could require billions of dollars in investments, millions of hours of planning and permitting work, and years of construction in the field. Another option that could help is to optimize existing grid components. While increasing the capacity of present power lines may not preclude the need for upgrades down the road, it could reduce the urgency and eliminate some of the congestion on the system in the near term. One way to maximize line capacity is through closer monitoring of conductors. “LineVision is a grid technology company that is working with leading utilities around the world to solve some of the most critical challenges they’re facing,” Hudson Gilmer, CEO of LineVision, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “What we have developed is a platform that uses advanced sensors and analytics to increase the capacity, the resilience, and safety of our electric grid.” “What may be surprising to many of your listeners is that these high-voltage lines—these transmission lines and even distribution lines—that really form the backbone of our electric grid are not monitored today. Utilities have invested a lot in technologies that monitor equipment within their substations, but one of the last frontiers where they don’t monitor the condition of their grid is the overhead lines,” Gilmer said. It may not be obvious to the casual observer, but power lines do move quite a bit. The difference in the sag of a typical transmission line can be several meters. “A hot conductor will sag more than a cool conductor will,” Gilmer explained. “What we’re doing with these sensors is taking advantage of the fact that even a modest amount of wind cooling the line allows utilities to safely put much more power through them than they would if they weren’t monitored and they had to make essentially worst-case, very-conservative assumptions about the conductor’s tempera