US DOE Enlists AI to Speed Up Approval Process for Interconnection Projects

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a $30 million funding opportunity for artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that streamline the application process for grid interconnection projects.

“The new Artificial Intelligence for Interconnection (AI4IX) program will develop partnerships between software developers, grid operators (including Regional Transmission Operators and Power Marketing Administrations), and energy project developers to modernize the interconnection application process and significantly reduce the time required to review, approve, and commission new generation interconnections across the country”, the DOE said in a statement.

Nearly 12,000 power projects representing 1,570 gigawatts of generation capacity are seeking interconnection to the grid, according to a report by the government-run Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) last April.

“Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, under AI4IX, projects will work to apply existing AI algorithms to the interconnection application process to more quickly identify deficient applications and rapidly notify applicants for resolution”, the DOE said.

“For example, AI software trained on a library of accurate documentation and application materials can review interconnection applications for the required site control documentation and flag errors within submitted supporting documents. Documenting site control for interconnection is a particularly challenging issue for project developers due to the different stakeholders, property laws, and grid facility access requirements for each generator project”.

The application period for the first round ends January 20, 2025.

According to the LBL report, solar, wind and storage projects accounted for 95 percent of the queue capacity.

“Only ~19 percent of projects (14 percent of capacity) requesting interconnection from 2000-2018 reached commercial operations by the end of 2023”, said the report, funded by the DOE. “Completion rates are even lower for solar (14 percent) and battery (11 percent) projects.

“The average time projects spent in queues before being built has increased markedly. The typical project built in 2023 took nearly 5 years from the interconnection request to commercial operations, compared to 3 years in 2015”.

Also in April the DOE released a roadmap to fast-track the connection of renewables to the grid, in an effort to help achieve the goal of migrating the U.S. to 100 percent clean electricity by 2035.

The Transmission Interconnection Roadmap sets targets by 2030 concerning project approval time, costs and completion rates. It presents measures for “increasing data access, transparency, and security for interconnection; improving interconnection process and timeline; promoting economic efficiency in interconnection; and maintaining a reliable, resilient, and secure grid”, the DOE said in a statement April 17.

The roadmap aims to reduce the average time it takes to reach an interconnection agreement to less than 12 months — from 33 months in 2022 — using the date of the interconnection request as the reference point.

The target completion rate for interconnection projects is set at 70 percent, from 45 percent in 2016. The target only covers projects that entered the facility study phase.

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