By Tom Kleckner
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — SPP gathered a half-dozen vendors to show off some of the latest transmission technologies before an audience of stakeholders and staff last week. A first for SPP, the Technology Expo was following a trend set by other RTOs.
“Doing these things is necessary because technology is evolving,” said Todd Ryan, director of regulatory affairs for Smart Wires. “It’s good for us because it helps us understand where our product fits in.”
Ryan was on hand to push his company’s PowerLine Guardian, a modular transmission power-flow control that the company says “will change how power grids are designed and operated.” Combined with the company’s Power Router, the Guardian addresses congestion through local control or central dispatch through devices hung on conductors and towers or deployed in substations.
“You ever hear of the Whac-a-Mole problem?” Ryan asked. “When you solve a problem in one place, it just to moves to another. Every grid has this problem, but [with Smart Wires], you have a tool to more finely tune your investment to your needs and whack more moles.”
Other speakers shared the latest on advanced conductors, topology optimization, dynamic line rating, energy storage and HVDC transmission lines. Almost three dozen members of SPP’s staff and stakeholders attended the expo, with others listening on the phone.
“All technologies are about two things: bringing new capacity to the market and integrating renewables,” said Joe Coffey of General Cable. He motioned to the screen behind him, where a slide showed higher-capacity conductors. “Hey look, a new technology!”
Jay Caspary, SPP’s director of research, development and Tariff studies, said the expo was designed to educate staff and stakeholders “of opportunities that exist today to improve grid operations and planning.”
“We look forward to continued dialogue with interested stakeholders, and we will work with members on efforts which could lead to pilot programs in the near future,” Caspary said.
