NM Energy Hub Moves US Toward Smart Grid

Posted by Jennifer Schwartz on October 16, 2009 at 3:46 pm

The Tres Amigas Project takes a big step in the direction of a national smart grid. (image: domesticfuel.com)

On Tuesday, officials unveiled a lofty project that would allow energy to flow more freely across the nation, breaking down significant barriers to ramping up alternative energy in the United States, according to the Associated Press.

One of the biggest challenges to implementation of large-scale renewable energy has been the scope of its reach. Small pilot programs have popped up all over the country in recent years, but the link between production and distribution is still in its early stages.

Enter the Superconductor Electricity Pipelines, a massive power transmissions project based out of New Mexico that will help distribute renewable sources of energy to different parts of the country. A press release from the American Superconductor Corporation says the pipelines will help unite “America’s three power grids for the first time to enable faster adoption of renewable energy and increase the reliability of the U.S. grid.”

These pipelines were chosen for the Tres Amigas Project, the nation’s first renewable energy market hub.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former energy secretary to President Bill Clinton, said the transmission station would be “historic.”

According to the release, the hub will be a “multi-mile, triangular electricity pathway . . . capable of transferring and balancing many gigawatts of renewable power” between the three major US Interconnections,” which are comprised of the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection and the Texas Interconnection.

Not unlike highway rotaries used for traffic flow control, multiple power transmission lines from each of the Interconnections will feed power into and out of the Tres Amigas SuperStation.

The pressing need for a “smart grid” has been recognized by policymakers at all levels of government as a crucial step towards building a more efficient energy economy—reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and increasing the employment of low-carbon energy sources. The significance of this project is that it will enable a broader application for renewable energy. For example, regions rich in solar energy will be able to buy electricity at night, when the sun is not shining, from regions rich in wind energy. The converse would apply to wind regions when there’s no breeze.

Says American Wind Energy Association Chief Executive Officer Denise Bode:

“For wind energy to grow significantly in the U.S., more transmission from locations where winds are strongest to population centers will be required. New transmission technologies such as Superconductor Electricity Pipelines may alleviate some of the nation’s transmission challenges, and we are excited about the progress being made with this promising technology.”

In its first phase, the facility will cost an estimated $600 million to build, according to Russ Stidolph, chief financial officer for Tres Amigas.