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RT @BerkeleyLab: @SecretaryWright @desisurvey @ENERGY @doescience @LBNLnuclearsci @witherell_lbnl @DellTech @nvidia @nvidianewsroom @ESnet….

RT @BerkeleyLab: @SecretaryWright @desisurvey @ENERGY @doescience @LBNLnuclearsci @witherell_lbnl @DellTech @nvidia @nvidianewsroom @ESnet….

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RT @BerkeleyLabETA: The Energy Innovator Fellowship is looking for recent grads to help advance solutions at critical energy organizations.….

Our Joe Rand is quoted on how the interconnection process is going in the Pacific Northwest.

RT @BerkeleyLabETA: @BerkeleyLab Researcher Joe Rand from @BerkeleyLabEMP was named one of the Top 50 Data Changemakers in the Energy Secto….

For even more information, see our landmark research on the interconnection queues, in the report Queued Up. Find also recorded webinars, interactive data sets, and more, at /END

Policymakers are actively working with stakeholders to improve procedural rules for interconnection but commonly cite the lack of data and transparency as a gap to evidence-based decision-making. We hope these data will shed light on the process. 8/x

These findings suggest the need for continued interconnection reforms, tighter links between long-term transmission planning and project-level interconnection processes, and more interconnection outcome transparency. 7/x.

A big factor is the cost of network upgrades, which are often billed to project developers to overcome transmission constraints. The wide range of interconnection costs across the country and by situation illustrates the uncertainty and lack of uniformity of the process. 6/x

Interconnection service can either be firm (capacity) or as-available (energy). One would expect that as-available service would cost less, be approved more quickly, and be less likely to trigger grid upgrades, but our evidence suggests that is often not the case. 5/x

Wind and solar are seeing the highest costs, whether completed or not. While wind and solar projects that completed the interconnection study process saw interconnection costs making up 6-8% of total project costs, withdrawn projects faced costs of 30-37% of total. 4/x.

Interconnection costs have risen over time. Projects withdrawn in recent years had costs 23% greater than the preceding 5 years and more than double those before 2014. Costs are much greater for withdrawn projects ($373/kW) than for those that completed iX studies ($73/kW). 3/x

Massive growth in solar and battery deployment has led to the queue backlog. Since 2010 the queue has grown >5X and the process length has doubled. To get more details about what’s going on, we analyzed 5000 interconnection studies to create a first-of-a-kind cost database. 2/x

We reported earlier on the massive backlog for grid interconnection. To better understand the dynamics and what solutions may be available, we just published “Grid connection barriers to renewable energy deployment in the United States." THREAD!

RT @eeregov: #DYK: 90% of wind turbine materials can be #recycled. ♻️ . @ENERGY’s latest report backed by @NREL, @ORNL, and @SandiaLabs exp….

Community solar is growing, but customers can be confused when they get separate bills from a community solar company and from their utility. A new report by @NREL and @BerkeleyLab explores issues around consolidated billing for community solar.