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As the solar PV capacity in the U.S. continues to grow, and more regions reach high levels of renewable energy penetration, grid congestion is becoming a major concern for large-scale projects. For those unfamiliar with the process or who skip thorough planning upfront, unexpected grid interconnection challenges—such as power limitations or stability issues—can lead to costly delays and budget overruns.
At Pure Power, we serve as both an owner’s engineer and an independent engineer, helping EPCs and developers accurately assess and quantify the impacts of grid congestion on their projects. In this post, I’ll explain how we support fast and predictable project development, even when faced with constrained or potentially constrained grids, through early planning and expert insights.
### Interconnection Technical Studies
At the beginning of a large-scale project, developers typically engage with the regional grid operator to initiate a site-specific study that evaluates the impact of new generation capacity. These studies help identify any necessary grid upgrades before interconnection. However, without proper planning, especially during site selection, developers may end up acquiring a location that isn’t ideal for solar PV installation until after the study is complete.
Interconnection studies generally cover:
- **Power capacity limitations**: Regional transmission systems may be at or near full capacity, making it expensive or even unfeasible to connect new solar assets. Developers often bear the cost of required upgrades, which can significantly affect project economics.
- **Grid stability considerations**: Older or overburdened grids may face power quality issues when integrating variable renewables like solar and wind. With proper planning and enough time, these challenges can be mitigated using advanced equipment and on-site energy storage solutions.
To avoid unnecessary costs and delays, it's crucial for stakeholders to conduct due diligence early on regarding grid capacity and interconnection requirements. Without this, project timelines can become compressed, leading to rushed decisions and missed opportunities for optimization.
*Courtesy: National Association of Home Builders*
### Utility-to-Utility Experience and Perspective
The level of experience utilities have with renewable integration varies widely across the U.S., which affects the complexity and rigor of interconnection requirements. For example, Germany was one of the first countries to adopt large-scale renewables, facing grid instability due to early solar and wind installations. At the time, inverters lacked modern grid-support features, leading to voltage and frequency fluctuations.
In contrast, U.S. utilities in states like California and Florida are well-versed in handling interconnection studies and assessing the impact of variable generation. Their internal processes ensure developers perform adequate due diligence, which helps identify and resolve potential issues before they become costly problems.
However, in regions with little experience in bulk renewable integration, interconnection requirements may be minimal or nonexistent. This can be misleading—just because a utility doesn't ask for a study doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do one. Inexperienced utilities might not catch grid constraints until late in the project, leading to last-minute changes and increased costs.
### Looking Toward the Future
As the energy transition accelerates, future-proofing your project portfolio becomes increasingly important. Developers planning 3- to 5-year project pipelines are starting to incorporate solar PV and on-site energy storage into their strategies. While power electronics alone won’t solve all grid stability issues, energy storage plays a critical role in managing frequency fluctuations, which inverters cannot address on their own.
Even if energy storage isn’t a requirement today, including it in your project can make a big difference, especially in areas with constrained grids. It can also improve your chances of getting approval from utilities.
Additionally, the scale of projects is no longer the only factor. As renewable penetration increases, smaller systems will begin to face similar interconnection requirements. From a utility perspective, distributed solar and storage assets can act like larger ones when aggregated and controlled effectively.
By staying ahead of these trends, developers can build more resilient and efficient projects that align with the evolving energy landscape.