{"id":630322,"date":"2023-10-31T05:56:24","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T12:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&#038;p=630322"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:10:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T19:10:37","slug":"nexttech-renewables-grid-transmission","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/nexttech-renewables-grid-transmission","title":{"rendered":"NextTech: The Geographic Conundrum Slowing a Clean Energy Future"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[469481,487062,483792,487052,278472],"department":[488822],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-630322","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-clean-energy","tag-electrification","tag-nexttech","tag-renewables","tag-resiliency","department-sustainability-risk"],"acf":{"short_description":"To grow the clean energy grid, one nonprofit has a plan to bury high-voltage transmission lines along highways, guided by GIS technology.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The successes of electrification are increasingly hard to miss. The International Energy Agency expects <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2023\/08\/12\/climate\/clean-energy-us-fossil-fuels.html\">over $1.7 trillion to be invested<\/a> in wind power, solar power, batteries, and electric vehicles this year, compared with $1 trillion spent on fossil fuels. New ultralong-range EVs can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/ultralong-range-electric-cars-are-arriving-say-goodbye-to-charging-stops-a5cf4390\">travel 500 miles<\/a> without a charge. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2389770-heat-pumps-are-poised-to-help-breweries-and-other-industries-go-green\/\">Breweries<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/governor\/mills\/news\/after-maine-surpasses-100000-heat-pump-goal-two-years-ahead-schedule-governor-mills-sets-new\">colleges<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/90894038\/the-secret-behind-new-yorks-most-energy-efficient-new-office-building\">office buildings<\/a> are adopting heat pumps as an energy-efficient alternative to natural gas."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"<strong>Article snapshot:<\/strong> Something is slowing down the shift to renewable energy, and it\u2019s not the energy projects themselves. Allie Kelly has a solution to connect new energy projects to the transmission grid\u2014and the location intelligence to demonstrate its feasibility.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"But a lesser-known problem dogs the energy transition: No matter how much <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/fast-four-renewable-energy\/\">renewable energy<\/a> is created, it can\u2019t reach consumers unless the transmission grid is significantly expanded and upgraded.\r\n\r\nAmerica\u2019s ambition to create a 100 percent clean energy grid by 2035 will require between 1,400 and 10,100 miles of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.utilitydive.com\/news\/us-can-reach-100-clean-power-by-2035-doe-finds-but-tough-reliability-and\/635874\/\">new high-voltage transmission<\/a>\u2014about 1.3\u20132.9 times the current capacity, according to the Department of Energy\u2019s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. More than 2,000 gigawatts are waiting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sustainability\/us-power-regulator-weigh-plans-speed-up-green-energy-connection-2023-07-27\/\">to be connected to the grid<\/a>.\r\n\r\nAllie Kelly, executive director of the green energy nonprofit The Ray, believes an elegant solution lies in an inconspicuous type of land: right-of-ways (ROWs). By knitting together government-owned parcels that line roadways and railroads, grid operators can develop corridors to bury underground high-voltage transmission lines. This would expand the grid\u2019s capacity while avoiding property disputes, and reduce the risk of wind or storm damage to the interconnection system."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Learn where global experts see a place for technology in addressing climate change in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/washington-post-live\/2023\/09\/20\/how-technology-is-accelerating-effort-find-climate-change-solutions\/\">this exclusive <em>Washington Post<\/em> event<\/a>.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The Ray has adopted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/geographic-approach\/overview\">geographic approach<\/a> to help state agencies like departments of transportation analyze the suitability of transmission corridors. With geographic information system (GIS) technology, the team combines dozens of datasets with cost estimates and 3D visualizations, guiding transportation officials toward the most efficient, cost-effective ways to grow the clean energy grid.\r\n\r\n<strong>A Suitability Analysis for Transmission\u2014Driven by Location Data<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn the video below, Kelly shares a GIS map displaying highway ROWs throughout Minnesota. A sidebar highlights the many layers that drive a suitability assessment\u2014everything from soil type and topography to critical wildlife habitats and ROWs that are too narrow for construction."},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_d90h9wj2","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"A location analysis color-codes potential transmission corridors for suitability. Railroad crossings, overpasses, or marshy areas are marked red to convey the likelihood for higher costs and complications. Green signals less challenging and less expensive sections."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Each article in the NextTech series features a short video showing how advanced technology addresses business challenges. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wherenext\/category\/?search=NextTech\">Browse the NextTech library<\/a> for more key business topics.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Developers can use more granular forms of location intelligence as decision-making cycles progress. A GIS-based 3D visualization\u2014akin to the project\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/digital-twin\/overview\">digital twin<\/a>\u2014can help planners balance project objectives with realities of the terrain. The technology calculates basic build costs of a transmission path by analyzing the spending associated with water and road crossings, boring and trenching. Such location awareness lowers project risk and promotes better cost control.\r\n\r\nFor Kelly and other clean energy advocates, growing the grid\u2019s capacity for renewable energy sources is arguably today\u2019s most urgent task. By combining data and visuals into a powerful scenario-planning platform, GIS is playing a key role in helping states find the fastest routes to an efficient, resilient clean energy grid.\r\n\r\n<em>\u00a0<\/em>\r\n\r\n<em>For a closer look at how location analysis aids energy planning, view the <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/mediaspace.esri.com\/media\/t\/1_lheuzcif\"><em>full video of Allie Kelly\u2019s presentation<\/em><\/a><em>. <\/em>"}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NextTech: Transmission Woes Dog the Energy Transition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The US power grid needs a clean energy upgrade\u2014and the answer might just lie in threading high-voltage transmission lines underground along the nation\u2019s highways.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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