Transmission and Distribution: Grid Performance and Substation Upgrade Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Transmission lines and substation projects in the U.S. that are being tracked by Industrial Info are now some of the most active areas in the modernization and upgrading of the electrical grid. Research has concluded that developing and upgrading the modern grid would facilitate the integration of renewable energy resources, and improve efficiency and reliability now and for the future.

Click on the image at the right for a chart detailing U.S. substation projects that are set to begin construction before the end of 2014.

The automation and upgrading of substation equipment is one of the most cost-effective ways to avoid power outages. The equipment includes communication tools, protective relays, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), monitoring systems, reclosing relays, switches, voltage regulators, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and remote terminal units (RTU). This trend is expected to drive steady growth in the market for substation automation, which will grow from $2.7 billion in 2012 to $4.3 billion by 2020.

The maintenance and upgrading of substation equipment can avoid costly and time-consuming failures and outages. The evaluation of utility substations with infrared scanning, resistance-based tests, upgrading bolt systems and bimetal pads, as well as micrometer testing, are just a few ways to access what equipment needs to be replaced.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) (Washington, D.C.) is taking a number of steps to enable companies and utilities to improve grid performance across the nation, including investing $4.5 billion through the Recovery Act to make improvements to and upgrade the existing electrical grid. The DoE is promoting how to enable cost-effective investments of new technology; unleash the innovative potential in the electric sector through a greater focus on standards and interoperability; secure the grid from cyber attacks; and improve recoverability. The DoE also is empowering consumer access to energy usage information.

Utilities that implement the transmission and substation upgrades now receive transmission line updates 30 times a second, instead of updates every two seconds as in the past. Investment in electrical sensors, substation automation, synchrophasors and other upgrades are helping to make the new smart grid more reliable and responsive and avoid outages.

Industrial Info is tracking $2.44 billion in total investment value in substation projects in the Rocky Mountain region that are under construction or scheduled to start construction through the end of 2014. The states with the most projects in this region are Idaho, with three projects valued at $30 million, and Arizona, with two projects worth $421 million.

In the U.S, the transmission and substation-related projects being tracked in Industrial Info's database include 47 projects worth 11 billion dollars that are scheduled to begin construction in 2013. For related information, see article from January 29, 2013, article - U.S. Power Industry to See $11 Billion in Transmission-Related Projects Kick Off in 2013.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.