Grid United

As recent heat waves and resulting stresses on the power grid underscore – America’s electric grid needs updating, and we are lucky at Grid United to be working to address this massive challenge every day. We’ve created a short video describing how America’s antiquated electric grid came to be and the solutions we are driving forward – long-haul transmission lines to make our power more reliable and secure. If you want to make a significant impact on strengthening the grid and are up for a career that will require humility, ingenuity and tenacity, check out our open positions at: https://lnkd.in/g-sphC7v.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗧 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 As most power system studies engineers know, the western interconnection, eastern interconnection, and ERCOT interconnection powerflow models are kept separate in most instances for transmission planning studies. There are benefits to keeping these models separate, which can be boiled down to two points: Quicker powerflow simulation times and to simply reduce the complexity of the powerflow analysis. 𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱?  As changes in supply, demand, and extreme weather conditions are challenging grid reliability, DOE’s National Transmission Needs study identified a significant need for new interregional transmission. Analysis of interregional HVDC lines across the major AC interconnections can be a significant challenge in certain simulations when the Interconnections are modeled independently. Therefore, there are a few benefits to combining these models: • Operational scenarios evaluation • Advanced powerflow studies monitoring multiple AC interconnections • Analysis of interregional market interaction • And more! 𝗦𝗼, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗧 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿? We decided to combine steady-state powerflow cases from WECC, NERC MMWG eastern interconnection models, and ERCOT. Here were some of the major hurdles on the way to the final mega-model: • 𝗕𝘂𝘀 #, 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮 #, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 # 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗽 - Overlapping equipment #’s and  zone/area identifiers must be changed to accommodate combining the models and differentiate equipment • 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗗𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲, and; • 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗛𝗩𝗗𝗖 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗘𝗖𝗖, 𝗦𝗣𝗣, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗧 - The swing bus conundrum: The HVDC links between the 3 major interconnects are modeled in a variety of different ways in each individual model, including a combination of: swing buses, HVDC lines, generators, loads, and reactive power devices. This makes the modeling/attaching of the existing B2B HVDC links, swing bus edits, and rebalancing the powerflow cases for optimal convergence a hefty challenge 𝗧𝗼 W𝗿𝗮𝗽 U𝗽 W𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 and the mega-model works smoothly as a steady-state powerflow case.  𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗴𝗮-𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺?

We are thrilled to announce that today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DOE Grid Deployment Office selected North Plains Connector Interregional Innovation as a recipient of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership program. This transformative project will help strengthen and expand the capacity of our nation’s electrical power grid for resilience against extreme weather events and reliability for the rapidly growing increase in demand for electricity. We congratulate the Montana Department of Commerce, and thank the consortium of utilities, as well as the North Dakota Transmission Authority, who came together with letters of support for this vital project. ALLETE Avista Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. Minnkota Power Cooperative NorthWestern Energy Otter Tail Power Company Portland General Electric Puget Sound Energy #Innovation #GRIP #Transmission #Energy #Infrastructure https://lnkd.in/gPFQNkVr

Atlas Scholars are some of the brightest young minds in Houston, and Grid United recently had the privilege of hosting the 2024 cohort. The scholars spoke with project developers Odaro Omusi (pictured upper left) and Atlas alumnus, Jonathan Trujillo (pictured upper right), about Grid United and the transmission industry. They asked many insightful questions about our company and the impact of our projects. We look forward to watching these students grow into our industry’s leaders of tomorrow.

Grid United is proud to be one of Cristo Rey Jesuit’s corporate partners. Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory of Houston is dedicated to developing underserved, college-ready and career-prepared students. Through the school’s Corporate Work-Study Program, all Cristo Rey students spend one day per week working at one of the school’s 130+ Houston-area corporate partners. This program contributes to students’ personal and professional development and prepares them to excel in the corporate world.   This year, Cristo Rey student Conny Moran’s work-study program brought her to Grid United. Conny shined in her role as an office administrator, designing an office organization system and assisting with the logistics of a company offsite meeting. Her work-study program provided Grid United with a talented administrative assistant while also offering Conny valuable professional work experience.     Cristo Rey will soon welcome its largest-ever Freshman class and is looking for new corporate partners. Grid United looks forward to continuing its partnership with the school over the coming years.   https://lnkd.in/gCba_5S9

Thank you to The White House for inviting our CEO, Michael Skelly, to participate in the Summit on Modernizing the Power Grid. This event underscores the need for collaboration and innovative leadership in advancing our nation's energy infrastructure. We are proud to contribute to the efforts towards creating a more resilient and reliable power grid. #Leadership #Innovation #EnergyFuture #PowerGrid #GridUnited #WhiteHouse #Summit #Electricity #Energy #Infrastructure #PublicPrivatePartnership

We are excited to announce a commercial milestone for Grid United. Today, Portland General Electric signed a memorandum of understanding for joint ownership of our project, North Plains Connector, and pursue up to 600 MW ownership upon completion of the project. This agreement represents a step forward in our mission to advance complex transmission projects and support the growing demand for electricity. Read more about the announcement: https://lnkd.in/gp37kDAx #Energy #HVDC #GridReliability #Transmission #Infrastructure #GridUnited #Electricity #Collaboration #ALLETE #PortlandGeneralElectric #PGE

Thank you Electric Power by S&P Global Commodity Insights for including Project Development Director Amanda Flores in this year’s Global Power Markets Conference to speak on all things #transmission and #electricgrid 

Great to see Houston Chronicle covering the U.S. debut of our agreement with Hitachi Energy! We do indeed have a plan, including for the HVDC #supplychain https://lnkd.in/g3c3M4th #Energy #CERAweek #Houston #grid #power #infrasructure #technology

We're pleased to announce that Hitachi Energy will deliver critical HVDC technology for multiple Grid United projects in order to address the rapidly increasing demand for electricity in the U.S. 📈 ⚡   This collaboration directly supports U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) priorities on building a more reliable and resilient power grid, especially to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events.   We look forward to continue exploring further collaborations with Hitachi Energy and partnering with utilities to further strengthen the U.S. electric grid. #CERAweek #HVDC #Technology #Power #Infrastructure #GridModernization #SupplyChain https://lnkd.in/gQrVp4vP