Integrating Electrical Power

Electrical Power Grid

Everybody wants more power, but new electrical power plants don't just happen, it takes a lot or work to just figure out how to graft it onto the existing system. Construction Physics explains in this article:

Inside the Interconnection Queue by Brian Potter

Here is one excerpt:

Electric power in the US is provided by the electrical grid, a huge network of power plants, transmission lines, and transformers that moves electric power from where it's generated to where it's consumed. Before connecting a new power plant (or a very large consumer of electric power, like a semiconductor fab) to the grid, operators must evaluate whether the existing system has enough capacity to handle the change and determine what upgrades might help handle the increased load — new transmission lines, transformers, switchgears, etc.

 Here's another:

As of this writing, there are over 11,000 projects in the interconnection queue, with a combined generation and storage capacity of around 1,900 gigawatts. This is close to twice as much generation capacity as currently exists in the US (which was 1,189 gigawatts at the end of 2023).