MISO reported on Tuesday that it received a record 171 GW of proposed generation projects from 956 interconnection requests, more than what is currently in the interconnection queue.
The submittals are in addition to the current queue, which numbers 118 GW and 769 projects. Approximately 97% of the new project hopefuls are for renewable or storage resources.
Were MISO to approve all the 2022 requests, there could be nearly 300 GW of projects waiting on studies and interconnection agreements.
MISO said this is the third straight year that queue applications have reached unprecedented levels, with each annual cycle larger than the previous year’s. The RTO received 487 applications for 77 GW last year.
The grid operator said that “the volume of requests reflects an acceleration of the resource transition.”
“At this point, we are experiencing exponential growth in the queue,” Andy Witmeier, director of resource utilization, said in a press release. “The current applications continue to be heavily weighted with renewables and standalone storage requests again tripling the amount submitted the previous year.”
The new queue entrants comprise 84 GW in solar projects, 14 GW in wind generation, 32 GW of standalone energy storage and 34 GW of hybrid projects, or renewable energy and storage facility pairings.
Historically, only about 20% of the proposed generation in MISO’s interconnection queue makes it to grid. If that trend holds, the grid operator could add nearly 60 GW of capacity over the next few years.
However, the RTO’s recently approved long-range transmission portfolio (LRTP) was planned in part to bring more generation online quicker. Staff has estimated that the $10 billion, 18-project portfolio of 345-kV lines can facilitate about 53 GW worth of new interconnections. (See MISO Board Approves $10B in Long-range Tx Projects.)
MISO has plans to recommend three more LRTP portfolios over the next few years, bringing even more clean energy online.
“These numbers continue to represent the seismic shift occurring on the electric grid highlighting a rapid resource transition to renewable energy,” Witmeier said, adding that the first LRTP portfolio and the recent Inflation Reduction Act may have propelled additional interest in new generation projects.
“We are working with our stakeholders on the additional regional transmission needed to accommodate this resource shift,” he said.
The grid operator closed the 2022 application window in mid-September.
MISO said it will share more details on the 2022 queue cycle during the Interconnection Process Working Group’s virtual meeting on Oct. 10.
