2023 = Energy Security, Decarbonization, Resiliency

We all know we need to get serious about sustainability goals. Worsening climate change is compelling more industries and governments to take big steps to lessen their carbon footprint and invest in renewable energy and electrification. This is a positive sign, but a modernized electrical grid will be critical.

There is a consensus that renewable energy must be integrated into the grid, but few fully appreciate that the grid was not designed to accommodate the proliferation of large-scale distributed energy resources (DERs) and inverter based renewable generation, while simultaneously hosting the predicted increase in electricity demand. 2023 will mark the start of an important era to change this, with energy security, decarbonization and resiliency at the top of the priority list for power utilities worldwide.

My colleagues and I at GE Grid Solutions expect utilities to seek creative solutions to bring more renewable energy onto the grid and manage those DERs.

As 2023 gets underway, we predict three key areas of progress:

• Big investments in green energy accompanied by a focus on modernizing the transmission and distribution grid;
• Integration of more renewable energy into the grid, and reinforcements of grid infrastructure both with Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC) technology;
• Implementation of advanced technologies to protect the grid from climate-related disruptions.

Prediction 1: Becoming Serious About Grid Investments For The Energy Transition

Governments around the globe have invested trillions of dollars to accelerate the energy transition since the start of the decade. The International Energy Agency’s Government Energy Spending Tracker reports that government spending to support clean energy increased by more than $500 billion globally since March 2022, bringing total investment to $1.215 trillion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The US alone will invest half a trillion dollars in clean energy and climate over the next decade. Significant resources are earmarked for grid security and resilience.

These investments indicate that both governments and utility operators are acutely aware that we need to accelerate grid reinforcement, modernization and expansion.

Prediction 2: Integrating More Renewable Energy Into The Grid

Offshore wind is a powerful way to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. One GE Haliade-X 14 MW wind turbine can generate up to 74 GWh of gross annual energy production, saving up to 52,000 metric tons of CO2, which is the equivalent of the emissions generated by 11,000 vehicles* in one year. That’s great news, but simply creating more renewable energy isn’t enough.

We need the ability to connect that renewable energy to the grid so those electrons can be dispatched wherever they are needed. Wind power created off the coast of Norway must be able to power factories in northern Germany. That requires a grid that can handle the load.

The grid designed by GE’s co-founder Thomas Edison and still at work today does not account for the intermittency or variability of renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind. Utilities must modernize to balance the power mix of DERs to ensure that the lights come on when you flip the switch whether or not the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.

This year, we’ll see more of our customers focus on the digitization of the distribution grids with the installation of software orchestration for DERs to build more flexibility. Distribution grid operators want more visibility into their networks in real time so they can respond to the growth in electrification.

Prediction 3: Protecting The Grid From Weather Disruptions

Increasing frequency of climate change-related weather events will also motivate power utility providers to build more resilience into the grid. Grids built a century ago cannot withstand this millennium’s extreme weather.

In February 2022, a fierce winter storm with 122 mph wind gusts knocked out power for more than 1.3 million British homes. A year earlier, a freeze in the US disrupted power for more than 4.3 million homes and businesses.

These events laid bare the fragility of the grid, making utilities and government eager to push forward with grid modernization. An advanced grid with automated energy orchestration and integrated energy resources can handle a winter storm, an unexpected freeze, or even a lightning strike.

As I speak to customers, it’s clear that two things are top of mind: scale and speed. Redevelopment of the grid is a huge project and it needs to happen now. To accomplish both scale and speed, we’ll need to work together and work smartly.

Partnership and cooperation will achieve resilience and reliability, and remarkable achievements in the transmission and distribution of energy will advance progress toward our shared decarbonization goals.

*According to wind conditions on a typical German North Sea site.