21 Feb Transmission infrastructure: a critical connection in the clean energy transition
What do you picture when you think of renewable energy? Wind power? Hydropower? Geothermal power?
If you’re like me, you imagine a dispersed network of gleaming solar panels, a soaring wind turbine, a massive dam and a subterranean hot-water reservoir. As our society transitions away from fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions and protect our planet, the share of renewables in the U.S. electric-generation mix is projected to increase from 21% in 2020 to 42% in 2050:
When we picture solar panels, wind turbines and dams, we sometimes overlook the electric grid that these more glamorous features plug into. Achieving the projected growth in renewables and society’s climate goals will require public and private investments in new transmission infrastructure. In a February 2022 Wall Street Journal article, David Foley of the Blackstone investment firm, comments, “You can’t just put up a wind farm somewhere and expect the electricity to magically get to where it is used.” Current transmission lines are connected to fossil fuel generators and new lines are needed to bring the renewable energies to the population centers. Prezerv’s AI-powered Voxel platform stands poised to play a starring role in planning and building the green transmission lines that support the modernization of transmission and distribution infrastructure.