Description of venture idea
Develops technology for undergrounding distribution power lines.
Market needs this venture would address
Lower-cost underground power lines
Technical capabilities this venture might leverage
- Boring innovations in the fiber optics sector
Business model
TBD
Team
Hee Yau Phoon David Cohen-Tanugi
Outstanding risks
Phil Kim at ARPA-E is skeptical of the idea of microtrenching for power lines in urban settings because of:
- Magnetic fields
- Thickness of cables
- Temperature of cables
- Safety
References
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People to ask about this:
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According to a microgrid pilot program by Massachusetts Clean Energy Center:
Distribution infrastructure is expensive (transformers, switches, new conductors) so distances from microgrid buildings can increase cost. (source)
It’s interesting that transformers, switches, and new conductors are a major part of the cost of new distribution infrastructure. They also found:
Massachusetts utility franchise law allows utilities the right of first refusal with regard to ownership and operation of infrastructure within “public ways” (streets). Therefore, community microgrid projects in the Commonwealth must be collaborative between utility and customers.
Does undergrounding solve this ‘public ways’ problem?
Major hurdles to expanding the transmission grid include:
winning permits, negotiating land-use agreements and surmounting legal challenges from state and local government, private landowners and environmental groups along the entire length of a project. They also include reaching a consensus among multiple utilities and state regulators over how to share the costs of new projects between them.(source)
Canary Media goes on:
The primary cause of the yearslong backlogs and spiraling grid-upgrade costs for the hundreds of gigawatts’ worth of clean energy projects languishing in interconnection queues is the lack of adequate transmission capacity, grid experts agree.