- Grid Brief
- Posts
- Wildfires from Power Lines // $4.5 Billion to Bolster Grid // Dutch to Build New Nuclear
Wildfires from Power Lines // $4.5 Billion to Bolster Grid // Dutch to Build New Nuclear
Jeff Luse
June 11, 2024
Welcome to Grid Brief! Here’s what we’re looking at today: A federal initiative is looking for ways to reduce wildfires caused by fallen power lines. Plus a company invests billions of dollars to bolster energy grids worldwide.
Initiative Aims to Reduce Wildfires from Power Lines
Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the University of Michigan, and the University of Wisconsin are creating a methodology to better understand how utilities can prevent wildfires caused by power lines and better protect the grid during these incidents. Power lines have been responsible for sparking some of the most damaging wildfires in recent memory including the Camp Fire in California in 2021 which killed 85 people.
Alexandre Moreira, a research scientist at LBNL, recently wrote about the initiative in UtilityDive:
“The methodology being developed by LBNL, in partnership with the University of Michigan and the University of Washington, can help system planners and operators to explicitly consider how power flow levels through power lines can increase ignition probability within high-threat areas. Essentially, the developed methodology considers different investment alternatives — for example, line coating, line undergrounding, installation of line segments through alternative paths paired with strategic placement of switching devices, etc. — and provides the portfolio of actions that will increase the flexibility of the system to deal with wildfire-prone weather conditions and minimize service disruptions.”
Hitachi Energy Invests $4.5 Billion to Bolster Grid
Hitachi Energy will invest $4.5 billion in manufacturing, engineering, digital, R&D, and partnerships across all major markets through 2027, Electrek reports. This comes on the heels of a $1.5 billion investment announced in April to boost transformer production.
Since 2020 Hitachi’s order backlog has more than tripled to over $30 billion. The Zurich-based company has recently inked deals to provide HVDC transmission solutions to utilities in France, Germany, and Australia and service contracts for the SunZia Transmission Project in New Mexico.
Upgrade to Grid Brief Premium to get extra deep dives into energy issues all over the world.
Conversation Starters
Will a Western Energy Market Boost Clean Energy? (Canary Media)
Late last month, the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative, a group supported by Western utilities and state regulators, approved a plan that could pave the way for California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington to form a regional power market.
Dutch Government Supports Four New Nuclear Reactors (Power Magazine)
The newly-elected right-leaning government of the Netherlands has said that it will support at least four new nuclear reactors as part of a program to more than triple the amount of government money to fund nuclear projects.
New Zealand to Scrap Oil Exploration Ban (Bloomberg)
Citing energy security concerns and depleting natural gas reserves, New Zealand’s government plans to lift its ban on offshore petroleum drilling which has been outlawed since 2018.
We rely on word of mouth to grow. If you're enjoying this, don't forget to forward Grid Brief to your friends and ask them to subscribe!