Planning

Improving Interconnection Study Process

PJM has studied more than 660,000 MW of generation requests since the inception of its interconnection process in 1999, with more than 70,000 MW of generation interconnected and energized across the PJM footprint.

As generation continues to trend toward renewable sources, the volume of interconnection requests has also surged. In 2020, PJM issued on-time over 750 feasibility studies (more than the previous four years combined) and over 500 system impact studies (more than the previous five years combined). PJM currently has 145,299 MW in the interconnection queue. Of that, 92% of the megawatts are composed of renewable generation sources.

The most recent queue that closed at the end of September 2020 had more than 560 projects, with more than 40,000 MW of energy requesting to be interconnected. Of those 560 projects, 500 were either solar, wind or storage.

To keep pace with the grid of the future, in 2020 PJM began a series of workshops to convene conversations and collaboration about streamlining the interconnection process to more closely align with the size and types of generators in the queue. Hundreds of members participated in two workshops in 2020, and the collaborative workshops continue in 2021.

This engagement with stakeholders reflects PJM’s commitment to ensuring that the interconnection process evolves in step with industry participants’ needs to efficiently manage queue volume, provide cost certainty, incent shared upgrades and accommodate public policy.

Supporting State Policy Goals

Evolving the planning process is happening in tandem with PJM’s work in helping states advance their energy goals.

More and more, states are driving energy policy – and the states in the PJM footprint are very different, each with its own priorities. In 2020, PJM established a dedicated State Policy Solutions Group to make available PJM’s expertise in planning, operations and markets and assist states in the advancement of state energy policies.

One such collaboration occurred in November when PJM and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced a landmark initiative to help the state of New Jersey advance its offshore wind goals through an existing, but never-before-used, provision of PJM’s transmission planning process. PJM will include New Jersey’s need for reliable, cost-effective transmission solutions in a competitive proposal window in early 2021.

Coastal States and Offshore Wind Targets

As coastal states pursue ambitious development of offshore wind goals, PJM kicked off an engagement with the Organization of PJM States, Inc. to develop a regional coastal study for offshore wind. PJM is studying six different scenarios from 2027 to 2035 to plan the system needs to support the coastal states’ offshore wind goals. The regionwide study will be completed in 2021 and will provide the necessary information to cost effectively plan the transmission system.

During a daylong FERC Technical Conference on Offshore Wind, PJM and many industry participants expressed the need for more FERC policy support and coordinated planning to maximize efficiency among limited shore interconnection points in light of the scale of planned projects.

Within PJM’s footprint, coastal states have offshore wind targets totaling more than 14,250 MW in new generation. There are more than two dozen offshore wind projects totaling more than 13,500 MW in PJM’s current interconnection queue.