Impact of Interconnection Queue Backlogs on Grid Reliability
- Delayed Integration of New Generating Facilities: Backlogs prevent new power plants from connecting to the grid efficiently and on schedule. This delay hinders the addition of new resources that are often critical for replacing aging infrastructure or meeting rising demand, thereby creating reliability risks.
- Increased Uncertainty and Costs: The uncertainty regarding the timing and cost to interconnect causes project delays or cancellations. This disrupts planned generation capacity growth, which can compromise the grid’s ability to maintain stable and continuous supply.
- Mismatch of Resource Characteristics and Grid Needs: Different types of generation resources—especially variable renewables—pose unique challenges to the integration process. Queue backlogs complicate managing these diverse resources effectively, which can introduce operational reliability concerns.
- Growing Queue Volumes and Longer Wait Times: The sheer scale of the backlog is substantial. At the end of 2023, the total capacity seeking interconnection was about 2.6 TW, more than twice the existing US power plant capacity, with backlog wait times increasing by 70% over a decade. Such congestion in the queue indicates bottlenecks that delay grid modernization and adaptation.
- High Withdrawal Rates and Increasing Costs: Around 80% of projects in queues eventually withdraw due to long wait times and rising interconnection costs, particularly for renewables and storage. This inefficiency reduces new capacity coming online and compromises the grid’s evolution toward cleaner and potentially more reliable electricity sources.
Regulatory and Reform Efforts
To address these reliability and development challenges, reforms have been initiated:
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order No. 845 and more recently Order 2023, requiring significant changes such as cluster studies replacing serial processing, higher readiness criteria, stricter timelines, and penalties to speed and improve queue management.
- Regional grid operators like MISO, CAISO, PJM, and ERCOT are adopting additional reforms beyond federal mandates to better handle the volume and complexity of interconnection requests.
- DOE and industry stakeholders are also developing roadmaps and strategies to unlock these backlogs and streamline integration processes.
In summary, interconnection queue backlogs cause critical delays in bringing new generating capacity online, create uncertainty and increased costs, and hinder the grid’s ability to reliably incorporate new and cleaner energy sources. These backlogs, if unaddressed, pose a threat to the ongoing reliability and resilience of the power system. However, ongoing reforms at federal and regional levels aim to alleviate these issues and enhance grid reliability through more efficient interconnection processes.
Original article by NenPower, If reposted, please credit the source: https://nenpower.com/blog/how-do-interconnection-queue-backlogs-affect-the-reliability-of-the-grid/
