PROCESS

GRID ACCESs

The Powerhouse team is experienced in facilitating the technical and legal process of securing interconnection with the electrical distribution and transmission system as an integral part of the overall solar power plant development.

The Powerhouse team works in close concert with distributor utilities and regional transmission operators to coordinate design of the solar plant with the parameters of the grid system and to determine the capacity of the grid and its components to safely, reliably and synchronously handle the power of the new solar plant.

Along with the technical aspects of interconnection, Powerhouse facilitates the process of securing the interconnection agreement containing the necessary terms and conditions to properly allow initial start up and ongoing operation of the solar plant on the grid system.

The electrical grid is the network through which electricity is transmitted and distributed from the generator to the end user. The grid is actually a network of grids owned and operated by various transmission organizations and distribution utilities, with large centralized power plants and smaller distributed generation plants energizing the system, and with end users consuming the energy to power industrial, commercial and residential loads. The distributor utility and/or regional transmission operator’s territory in which the solar plant is located will require an interconnection agreement stating the terms and conditions by which interconnection of the solar plant with their grid system is allowed.

Interconnection of a solar power plant with the electrical distribution and / or transmission system is a technical and legal process with financial and regulatory implications.

The technical component of interconnection is focused on the impact the solar power plant will have on the grid system. The process of securing an interconnection agreement for the solar power plant typically involves a series of grid impact studies and facility studies with increasing levels of detail performed to simulate and evaluate the affects the plant will have on the grid from the immediate point of interconnection and projecting outward through the distribution and/or transmission lines, the substations and various interconnected networks upstream and/or downstream from the plant. The purpose is to determine the capacity of the grid and its components to safely and reliably handle the power of the new plant to be added to the grid. The interconnection study process will closely impact the design of the solar power plant and its component equipment, therefore the interconnection process must be integrated closely with the design of the solar power plant and specification of its equipment components.

The technical considerations of the interconnection process take place within the policy and legal frameork of the utilities and transmission operators involved. And the utilities and regional transmission operators are governed by the public policy framework of the state/province and national/federal regulatory commissions and agencies having jurisdiction.

Powerhouse brings together the technical and legal understanding and experience to effectively lead the interconnection process and secure access to the grid as part of the solar power plant development process.