A cumulative 1,086GW of PV projects and 503GW of independently deployed energy storage systems are awaiting grid connection permits in the US by the end of 2023, according to preliminary data recently released by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Based on estimates of unreported PV+storage projects, the lab estimates that the installed capacity of energy storage systems in hybrid projects (e.g., PV+storage projects) waiting to be connected to the grid by 2023 is 525GW.
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released these figures in a staff report.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL) preliminary values for the various energy sources waiting to be connected to the grid (except hybrid deployment energy storage projects) are listed in a statement in the FERC staff report. The FERC staff listed 299 GW in the table instead of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL’s) 525 GW because the FERC staff did not count unreported hybrid deployment energy storage projects.
Photovoltaic (PV) systems, wind facilities, and battery storage systems account for nearly 95 percent of the total installed capacity waiting to be connected to the energy grid by the end of 2023, according to this report from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
According to preliminary data from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the number of requests for grid connection waiting to be processed increased to 11,841 by the end of 2023, a 16 percent increase since the end of 2022 and more than quadrupling since the end of 2019.
The report includes a summary of the grid operator’s transmission plan filed last year with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which includes transmission plans to help connect photovoltaic systems and energy storage projects to the grid.
California grid operator CAISO’s transmission plan includes 21 transmission projects costing $5.5 billion to help meet renewable generation requirements set by California regulators. Some of these transmission projects will be able to import wind power from outside CAISO’s service territory.
Mid-Continent grid operator MISO Corp. plans to build 142 transmission projects.
PJM, the grid operator with a service area from Chicago to New Jersey, plans to build 93 transmission projects costing $180 million to support renewable energy projects seeking grid integration, the report said, adding that the company also evaluated 227 projects complemented by transmission owners, which would cost $2.4 billion.
Texas, which ERCOT serves, added the most PV systems of any region in the U.S. last year, as shown in Figure 3, which shows the new installed capacity in each grid region.
Seven of the nine grid regions cited in the report are shown in Figure 4. The other two regions are the “SERC Region,” which is SERC’s region in the southeastern U.S., and the “WECC* Region,” which is the Western Electricity Coordinating Council’s service area in the western states of the U.S. California CAISO’s service area is not shown. The map does not show the area served by CAISO in California.
The grid regions served by CAISO and ERCOT have accounted for most of the growth in grid-connected battery energy storage systems over the past three years.
