New Jersey is on its way to becoming a clean, green state, as we start buying electric vehicles, heat pumps, and other energy saving devices, and as we install wind and solar energy generation.
And despite Ørsted’s recent hiccup (withdrawal from NJ market) and the anti-offshore wind propaganda, offshore wind energy is part of our future. One glitch, though, is a lack of high-voltage electrical transmission capacity on our grids.
As solar and wind generation become the norm and our electrical consumption grows, we still have problems to solve. One of those is the need to replace and augment the aging high-voltage electrical transmission cables in our national, regional, and local grids.
A utility’s high-voltage lines may be too old to run at capacity, or they may be vulnerable to outages or overloads due to dated technology. Or, customers’ demands may exceed a grid’s capacity and a utility’s high-voltage towers may not have space for additional cables. Residents may even adamantly oppose new towers.
In addition, long-distance, high-voltage lines may cross multiple jurisdictions (states, municipalities, etc.) that require different permits—or may not grant them at all.
One big problem is that many aging utility cables are operating under outdated standards. The US Department of Energy estimated in 2023 that interregional transmission capacity needs to quadruple by 2035 to accommodate high load needs and meet clean energy goals established by the federal government and individual states.
To upgrade the system using standard transmission cables (steel core, aluminum wrapped), much costly new infrastructure will be needed. This could provoke many major bureaucratic nightmares, since transmission lines cross jurisdictional boundaries, as explained above.
Fortunately, one of the many proposals to upgrade grids is “reconductoring,” which involves replacing the ancient cables, economically, with lines capable of carrying more voltage. These newer cables use advanced carbon fiber as their core, replacing steel, and employ larger amounts of aluminum alloy that can deliver at least twice the current of steel and aluminum cables—if supported by other system upgrades. This can allow new sources of energy—particularly, solar and wind—to be hooked into the grid.
Experts in the transmission business estimate that reconductoring can yield energy savings of 50% or more and can take significantly less time than building new infrastructure. More savings are possible because reconductored lines can hook up to more solar and wind energy plants.
Other advantages of reconductoring include:
· These advanced conductors can operate at higher temperatures than conventional conductors, reducing line sag, which allows a tremendous increase in electricity loading capability during emergencies.
· Advanced conductors can carry significantly more power even when strung on existing towers and other structures.
· The higher load bearing capability can allow utilities to switch more power through reconductored sectors during power outages induced by weather or other problems. This can support rapid restoration of power to affected areas.
· Some advanced conductor lines have fiber optic sensors built into them, which can provide high-resolution monitoring capability.
· Fiber optic sensors in advanced conductor lines can provide real-time information on temperature, line sag, wind and ice strain, and power “loading” capability.
Europe is further ahead with reconductoring, partly because they have fewer utilities and less partnership and bureaucracy is involved. In the United States, which has several thousand separate utilities, about 200 reconductoring projects had been completed by 2022, but most of these incorporated a mixture of older steel-supported line technology, which limited the efficiency and power loading capability of the reconductoring.
Major changes are now afoot:
· The U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes up to $3.9 billion to modernize and expand the nation’s electrical grids, and this includes nearly $1 billion for reconductoring and related projects.
· JCP&L announced $935 million in spending late last year to strengthen grid resiliency in New Jersey. This will include installing about 600 miles of higher-capacity overhead power lines, replacing 46 miles of underground lines, and installing 2,175 circuit breaker–like devices that can repower lines quickly following outages.
· Also last year, Atlantic City Electric announced $93.1 million in spending on 22 projects to support the connection of solar and other clean energy technologies in South Jersey. The improvements will also strengthen the grid against severe weather.
· PSE&G announced in 2022 a 4-year plan to invest $511 million to support clean energy technology and strengthen grid resilience.
These planned investments by power suppliers serving New Jersey come at a critical moment. Power companies have reported that building interconnections for clean energy is bottlenecked by grid limitations.
In Atlantic City, “much of the utility’s franchise territory in South Jersey is so constrained that most residential solar projects cannot hook into its distribution system,” NJ Spotlight News reported in March 2024.
