According to a new report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a strong, flexible transmission system that is capable of coping with a wide variety of conditions is key for the reliable supply and delivery of electricity.

In recognition of the crucial role that transmission adequacy plays, Congress, in its Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, directed NERC to conduct the Interregional Transfer Capability Study (ITCS).

“Since that mandate, NERC has made enormous progress on addressing this complex Initiative,” said NERC. The “ITCS Overview of Study Need and Approach,” which is the first of four planned ITCS reports, provides the foundation for the project by detailing transfer capability calculations and the methodology used to make recommendations for prudent additions.

The goal of the ITCS is to identify locations between Transmission Planning Regions where enhanced transfer capabilities would strengthen the grid’s reliability. “As the United States and Canada share an interconnected bulk power system, NERC deemed that a Canadian analysis would be necessary to provide a more complete review of transmission capability,” said NERC.

The study is being performed in consultation with NERC’s six Regional Entities and each transmitting utility across North America, including significant collaboration with transmission planners, planning coordinators, transmission operators, transmission owners, state/provincial/federal partners, utilities, and trade groups.

According to NERC, in order to ensure diverse expertise from across North America’s regional transmission areas, an Advisory Group was established to provide input from study design and execution to recommendations and final reports.

In addition to the initial Overview Study, the project will consist of the following reports:

– Transfer Capability Analysis (Part 1): This will describe the total transfer capability between neighboring Transmission Planning Regions.

– Prudent Additions (Part 2) and Recommendations (Part 3): These will identify “prudent additions” to transfer capability between neighboring areas and the recommendations to meet and maintain transfer capability.

– Canadian Analysis: This will evaluate transfer capabilities from the United States to Canada and between Canadian provinces.

“Since launching the project, NERC has developed data requests and built study cases and scenarios for transfer capability analysis, which contain the most up-to-date information on transmission topology, loads, resource forecasts, and other inputs for the Western and Eastern Interconnections,” said NERC.

 

As directed by Congress, a final copy of the Study will be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) upon completion.