CAISO proposes $6.1B transmission plan, mainly for offshore wind
CAISO proposes $6.1B transmission plan, mainly for offshore wind | Utility Dive
The California Independent System Operator is proposing $6.1 billion in transmission projects, mainly to help deliver offshore wind to customers, according to a draft transmission plan released Monday.
Transmission projects to access clean energy resources total about $4.6 billion and are all in Pacific Gas & Electric’s service territory. Reliability-driven projects total about $1.5 billion.
Two projects in northern California — costing an estimated $2.7 billion and $1.4 billion — would be open to competitive bidding, according to the draft plan.
The plan is based on projections that California will need to add more than 85 GW by 2035 to meet its clean energy goals. The grid operator expects the projects, if approved, will be built over the next eight to 10 years.
CAISO said the draft plan will provide access to more than 38 GW of new solar, including in Nevada and Arizona, as well as 21 GW of geothermal capacity, mainly in the Imperial Valley and southern Nevada.
The plan would also allow more than 5.6 GW of wind imports from Idaho, Wyoming and New Mexico and more than 4.7 GW of offshore wind off the state’s northern coast.
CAISO said while developing its transmission plan it reviewed the proposed Pacific Transmission Expansion project — a 500-kV high-voltage, direct current project from the Diablo Canyon 500-kV substation to 230-kV substations in the Los Angeles Basin.
However, it didn’t include the project in the proposed plan because the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power hasn’t made a decision on whether it wants to pursue it, CAISO said.
The project could provide access to offshore wind, relieve congestion on Path 26 and reduce LADWP’s gas-fired generation needs. “The ISO will continue to explore gas-fired generation retirement plans with the [California Public Utilities Commission] and work with LADWP on potential collaborations in the next planning cycle,” the grid operator said.
As it has in previous planning cycles, CAISO considered using grid-enhancing technologies to improve the existing transmission system. The proposal includes a phase-shifting transformer to provide flow control to bolster grid resilience in northern California.
The draft plan is slated to be discussed at an April 9 meeting and could be voted on by CAISO’s board in May. The board approved $7.3 billion in transmission projects last year.
The draft plan was developed in close coordination with the CPUC and the California Energy Commission, according to CAISO.
As part of an agreement between the agencies, CAISO will develop a final transmission plan, initiate the transmission projects and tell the power sector which geographic zones are being targeted for transmission projects along with how much capacity will be available in those zones, the grid operator said.
The CPUC will then direct load-serving entities to focus their energy procurement on those transmission zones and CAISO will give greater priority to interconnection requests in those zones, the grid operator said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a map of CAISO's proposed transmission plan.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.