Unlocking the full potential of Quebec hydropower to balance renewables through the Northeast will require major efforts to overcome barriers to transmission planning and development, speakers at a webinar led by the Acadia Center emphasized Oct. 9.

While studies have shown increased bidirectional transmission capacity between the Eastern Canadian provinces and the Eastern U.S. could significantly reduce the costs of decarbonizing the grid, such transmission projects so far have struggled. (See Québec, New England See Shifting Role for Canadian Hydropower and National Grid Backs out of Twin States Clean Energy Link Project.)

The webinar kicked off with pre-recorded remarks from U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who said “the clean energy revolution is here at our doorstep,” but “our grid is an inaccessible, one-lane road from the Model T era.”

Markey highlighted his proposed legislation that would direct FERC to require RTOs to regularly engage in interregional planning and establish independent transmission monitors. (See Dems Introduce Bill on Transmission Planning, RTO Transparency.)

Despite the significant up-front costs of major new transmission lines, grid modeling indicates that “in a low-carbon system in New England and Québec, building more bi-directional transmission lowers the cost of electricity,” said Emil Dimanchev, a research affiliate at the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.

Increased bi-directional transmission would reduce the need to curtail renewables during periods of excess generation, Dimanchev said. It also would reduce reliance on gas resources by enabling hydro to take a greater balancing role paired with intermittent renewables.

Along with cost savings, increased interregional transmission also could provide significant reliability benefits.

“Transmission gives us this ability to combine wind resources from both sides of the border, which together are much more reliable,” Dimanchev said.

Adrienne Downey, principal engineer at the floating offshore wind developer Hexicon, said offshore wind pairs particularly well with hydropower when there is enough transmission capacity to enable hydro to firm up the intermittencies of wind.

“Offshore wind is pretty much a match made in heaven with this load growth, these winter peaks … and looking at hydro and the opportunity to replenish reserves,” Downey said.

Hexicon is part of a coalition that has proposed a “shared offshore backbone transmission corridor” to connect offshore wind resources along the northern Atlantic coast, reaching shore in both New England and Nova Scotia.

The proposal likely would pay for itself through reduced power costs but remains “really a question of proactive planning,” Downey said.

Additional interregional transmission capacity also would help to even out localized weather patterns as weather-dependent renewables make up a larger portion of the generation mix, said Hannes Pfeifenberger of the Brattle Group.

About 4 GW to 7 GW of transmission capacity likely will be needed and would be “cost effective” between Canada and both New England and New York, but “the reality is there are significant barriers,” Pfeifenberger said. A lack of trust between regions, inadequate planning tools and regulatory constraints all pose challenges.

“You need everybody at the table, which is why it’s so challenging,” Pfeifenberger said. He emphasized the need to build understanding around the importance of interregional planning to lay the groundwork for agreements regarding specific transmission needs and cost allocation frameworks.

Downey said grid operators, lawmakers and officials must work to expand beyond often-ingrained habits of hyper-focusing on the local grid, while also respecting the cultural differences in how regions approach their power system.

“To bridge that, and to have these broader regional discussions, there’s some cultural sensitivities,” Downey said. “It’s important that we think about this as a social and cultural exchange with related co-benefits.”

Beyond just adding new lines, transmission planning could help identify opportunities to increase line capacity when conducting asset condition upgrades, Pfeifenberger said.

Costs associated with maintaining the aging New England grid have accelerated in recent years, putting pressure on ratepayers and causing friction between the states and transmission owners, who have proposed several infrastructure projects costing hundreds of millions of dollars. (See New England States Raise Alarm on Eversource Asset Condition Project.)

Increasing line capacity could cost more in the short term but could provide significant long-term savings, Pfeifenberger said.

“We have an existing grid that was built in the ’60s and ’70s,” Pfeifenberger said. “We can save money and reduce community impacts by better planning.”