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National Grid to invest $35 billion in northeasten USA
USA Transmission & distribution National Grid has announced plans to invest an estimated $75 billion across the company’s service territory in the UK and US over the next five years, with nearly half of the funding dedicated to US energy system improvements in Massachusetts and New York. This significant step up to approximately $35 billion of investment represents an increase of more than 60% on National Grid’s investment in the region in the last five years. The plan makes National Grid one of the biggest investors in the energy transition in the Northeast and demonstrates the company’s commitment to help both states achieve their climate goals and deliver economic growth.
Group CEO of National Grid John Pettigrew said: “Today’s announcement is a clear illustration that National Grid is committed to playing our part in achieving the ambitious decarbonisation targets that New York and Massachusetts governments have set. The increased investment we’re announcing today follows positive engagement with our regulators in these states, reflecting a willingness to upgrade electricity networks to provide long term affordable energy to all, and reduce emissions across our gas networks.”
According to the US Department of Energy, lack of transmission infrastructure can directly contribute to higher electric bills, and more frequent and longer power outages. Preliminary findings from DOE’s National Transmission Needs Study also found that developing new transmission in the New York-New England corridor would not only improve reliability, but also support the increasing electric demand in the region. The federal analysis found the region needs a 255% increase in transmission development to support the clean energy growth expected under New York and Massachusetts policies. In New York, National Grid is investing around $21 billion between now and 2029. Among those investments is the Upstate Upgrade which comprises more than 70 transmission enhancement projects across Upstate New York. The portfolio of projects will transform the grid, improve reliability and resilience, and enable National Grid to deliver renewable energy to homes and businesses across the state.
In New England, National Grid’s five-year investment will total roughly $14 billion. As part of this investment, National Grid will implement innovative solutions, like smart
meters, to help consumers manage energy use; build modernised energy infrastructure; construct and upgrade infrastructure to make it less susceptible to extreme weather events; and maintain and improve the quality of our existing gas and transmission assets. One such proposed project, the Massachusetts Electric Sector Modernisation Plan (ESMP) would create a path to upgrade and expand the electric grid, accelerate the connection of renewables to the grid, and introduce new customer programmes to encourage energy efficiency, and the adoption of clean energy.
In addition to the transmission investments, National Grid has proposed a three-year investment plan to modernise the Downstate gas businesses, reducing emissions, and making them more resilient and reliable. This includes a focus on disadvantaged communities and accelerating gas main replacements to reduce emissions, with a target of 45 miles/year of replacements in New York City and 119 miles/year on Long Island. Since 2013 National Grid has replaced 1500 miles of gas main, lowering system
emissions by 102 385 metric tons of CO2 equivalent.
USA’s next NPP begins construction
USA Nuclear power On 10 June, Bechtel celebrated official groundbreaking at the Natrium nuclear power project. Bechtel is TerraPower’s engineering, procurement, and construction partner on this first-of-a-kind project in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The project is part of the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Programme. Natrium is an advanced nuclear reactor that uses a sodium- based technology to cool the reactor instead of water, although the use of molten sodium as the coolant is not in itself new. This version of the technology developed by TerraPower is said to provide clean, baseload operation at 345 MW with the capability to flex as high as 500 MW. Reflecting on the significance of today’s milestone, Craig
Albert, Bechtel president and COO, stated: “The Natrium reactor’s innovative design will launch a new approach to nuclear plant construction that is designed to be safer, cleaner, faster, and more efficient than many energy source alternatives.” “Working together, the combination of advanced technology and streamlined constructability has the potential to diversify the US power generation industry. The option of deploying smaller advanced nuclear plants that can work in concert with other clean energy sources will help speed our progress toward net-zero emissions.” Mr Albert commended TerraPower on their approach and the significance of the partnership: “TerraPower extended
their visionary approach to the building of the plant itself. Their involvement of Bechtel from the very beginning means the entire project lifecycle, including construction, has been optimised at every stage, making the entire process cost- effective, fast, and repeatable.” As the nexus of TerraPower and GE Hitachi technology, the
Natrium design is said to represent a leap forward in clean, sustainable power generation. In 70 years, Bechtel has designed, built, or provided construction services on 150 nuclear plants worldwide, bringing more than 76 000 MW of new nuclear generation capacity into existence.
www.modernpowersystems.com | June 2024 | 5
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